Well, Merry Christmas to everybody. I'm so blessed
to be here with you this morning to celebrate
what is the beginning of everything that changed
everything. The birth of our Lord and Savior
and His coming into this world. And gosh, what
a thing to celebrate as a church. What an opportunity
to... set aside even our personal little family
moments and stuff to say we're going to come
together as the church, the body of Jesus Christ,
to celebrate him together. And what a blessed
opportunity this is. If you don't know who I
am, I am Pastor Nathan. And, you know, today
we're here to celebrate together. It is Christmas.
You know, a lot of us have already had our mornings.
We got up this morning and had a tree full of
gifts, and my grandson James ran out, and he's
at that age of life right now where if a gift
is wrapped, it must be for him. And so, and of
course, they were all for him, and so he had
a wonderful morning and was so excited. And it's
just so fun to be a part of that. You know, every...
Every Christmas season, we're surrounded by gifts.
We're surrounded by the thought of what are we
going to get and who are we going to get it for?
Our whole world is wrapped around this idea of
gifts. Retailers count on it. It's like often
retailers make most of their money during the
Christmas season more than they make in the whole
year. Families are planning for this. The unwise
go into debt for it. Kids love it, right? It's
just this wonderful, wonderful time. But with
all of it, we always have to just be careful
to not get distracted by all of that from what
Christmas is really all about. And that's not
new. It's been happening for centuries. Most
people, if you talk to them about the real meaning
of Christmas, even non -believers around the
world, most people kind of know where the Christmas
celebration comes from. They're familiar with
the concept of baby Jesus and all of that. And
there's cards and there's carols and songs and
stuff. And all of that is just so beautiful and
so wonderful. And, you know, some people start
decorating in January and, you know, just God
bless them, you know. They're just excited about
this season. Even though we see cards and carols
and Hallmark movies and all this stuff, some
of it isn't all that accurate when it comes to
Christmas. We sing songs like Silent Night, right?
Beautiful song. But if you imagine the moment,
I don't think it was a very silent night. There
was a census going on. Bethlehem was packed full
of people. Every possible inn and place to sleep
was... full. There was nowhere for Joseph and
Mary to bed down for the night. And it just,
there was a lot of activity going on. And then,
of course, you have the multitude of the angels
singing into the sky, you know, to the shepherds.
And then, of course, you have this newborn baby
crying out into the night. You know, it's like
silence might be the last word you would describe
or use to describe the night. But perhaps no
Christmas story is more misunderstood than the
story of the wise men, right? We have songs about
that. And, you know, when we think of the wise
men in the Christmas story, it's often pictured
as, you know, three kings riding camels, kneeling
beside a manger on the night Jesus was born.
And, you know, if we're going to be scripturally
accurate, Scripture says none of that. It says
that there was wise men from the east, but it
doesn't tell us how many showed up. We just assume
three because there was three gifts, right? It
never calls them kings. It calls them wise men.
It calls them magi. But it does make it clear
that they didn't arrive the night he was born.
They arrived sometime after when he was a young
child, no longer a baby. But regardless, they're
in the story of the arrival. of the Savior of
the world. They're in the story because it's
deeply, deeply meaningful and theological, and
they brought the gifts, the gifts that we always
talk about, the frankincense, the gold, the myrrh,
and all of these gifts speak into the tradition
of gift -giving at Christmas. That's where it
all comes from, is the idea that these wise men
brought gifts to the Savior of the world. And
so we follow along with that as we get gifts
from one another during the season. And so I
want to look at those gifts this morning as we
remember, you know, what gift giving is all about
and celebrate the most important gift of all,
and that was Jesus. The gift to us who brought
the free gift of salvation and reconciliation
with our Creator, our Lord, our Father in heaven,
and just that is priceless. and has changed everything
for us. But before we get into all that, we're
going to spend some time worshiping God because
it's always good to start that way. We want to
start by just praising Him and showing Him how
much we love Him and singing to Him in worship
and praise that we appreciate Him, that we're
grateful for Him, that we love Him. And then,
of course, we want to do so in some of the familiar
songs that celebrate this time of the year and
what it's all about. But first, let's pray. If
you all bow your heads and join me in prayer.
Father, We're so grateful for you, and we're
so grateful that you sent your son into this
world who is God, Jesus Christ, who came to live
as a man and die as a man without ever having
sinned, ever done anything wrong, Lord, and yet
he was a gift that you gave to us, Lord, that
we would be able to, through his sacrifice on
the cross, to be saved. to have our relationship
with you restored, to have his perfect life accredited
to our account. Lord, it's more than we can imagine
and more than we could ever possibly hope to
earn or pay for. And God, that's what makes the
gift so wonderful. It was a free gift. It wasn't
something we had to work for. It wasn't something
that we had to do good deeds for, God. It was
something that you chose to do because you loved
us. And you knew that in our sin, there was just
no hope for us. So you did everything. And Lord,
the reality of this gift is we have to receive
it. You don't force it upon us. You offer it.
And Lord, we pray that this Christmas, Lord,
for any that are here with us this morning or
watching online that have never made a commitment
to you or maybe they made a commitment at one
point in their life and they've walked away from
that for years at this point. God, that they
would hear. what it's all about. They would remember
what it's all about, and they would come back
to the place of receiving that gift, holding
it close and applying it to their lives, using
it, just, Lord, everything that we hope people
do when we give them a gift, Lord, that we would
be blessed. But God, we want to start by worshiping
you and praising you, Lord, because this is a
celebration. This is a birthday. This is a time
where we just want to celebrate you. We thank
you so much. We love you. It's in Jesus' name
we pray. Amen. All right. You guys ready? Let's
do it. I love it. Well, I want to begin our look
at the wise men with the... with a very fun rendition
of the story and the associated carols that we
usually connect to it. This is... something our
founding pastor, Pastor Gary Ansdell, who is
now our pastor emeritus, did for years as a part
of the Christmas story here and our celebration
here on Sundays. And so, you know, the secular
world around us, every once in a while, kind
of gets things biblically kind of right, not
all the way right, but there's a... a proper
level of celebration and whatnot. And so in honor
of Pastor Gary this year, and as our church is
a gift to you, Pastor Gary, we want to bless
the kids this morning and bless the body as well
with the Little Drummer Warners by the Animaniacs.
So yeah, a fun, fun rendition. For years, I used
to talk about learning the drum solo and performing
that whole thing just for Pastor Gary one Christmas.
And we never quite got to it, but there's still
time. So we'll see in future years to come. I
wanted to kind of walk through the story of the
wise men and their visit to Jesus as a young
child and kind of look at this whole idea of
gifts and why we follow this tradition and why
we celebrate. We're going to be in Matthew chapter
2 if you want to follow along in your Bible there.
But starting in verse 1, it says, After Jesus
was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of
King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in
Jerusalem. Now, this part of the Christmas story,
it just opens with a very simple statement of
fact here. And that's all we're told. We're not
given any backstory to these wise men. We're
not given really... any explanation of what from
the east means. It's just suddenly, poof, out
of nowhere, these wise men appear on the story
coming into Jerusalem and they start looking
for this newborn baby king. In verse two, they
said, where is he who has been born king of the
Jews? For we saw his star as it's rising and
have come to worship him. Now this was a very
startling question for Jerusalem at the time.
It was a question that shook the whole city because
there was already a king. His name was Herod,
King Herod. And he was an authority that had
been installed there by Rome. He was somebody
that was very hedonistic. He really didn't care
or worship God. Wasn't even a Jew, as we'll get
to that. But, you know, authority in the area
at the time, because Rome controlled the whole
world, authority was something that was overseen
and greatly influenced by Rome. And so the thought
of another king possibly arriving on the scene
outside of the normal process of kingship, that
was worrisome. And that was problematic and potentially
dangerous if Rome got involved and said, wait
a second, who's this king that we didn't vet,
that we didn't approve? And so people got worried
that these wise men from the east are showing
up going, hey, where's the new king who was just
born? Who were these wise men, right? We talked
about in the songs and stuff, they referred to
as we three kings and all this stuff, but who
were they? Why would they come looking for a
Jewish king? That's a very important question,
and we have to kind of go back hundreds of years
for the answer to that question. These wise men
were also known as Magi, and they were a hereditary
priestly caste from the Medo -Persian world.
And so if you imagine the map and where Israel's
at, if you go to the east, you go through what
is modern -day Iraq and into modern -day Iran,
and that was the Persian and the Medo -Persian
empires of the time. men from that area. They
were scholars. They were astronomers. They were
interpreters of dreams. But most importantly,
in their homeland, they were kingmakers. What
I mean by that is no Persian king ruled in the
Medo -Persian Empire without the approval of
these wise men, these magi. Now, centuries earlier
during the Babylonian captivity, there was a
Jewish prophet named Daniel. There is a book
in the Bible that is named after him. And in
Daniel 5, verse 11, it tells us this, that King
Nebuchadnezzar appointed him chief of the magicians,
mediums, Chaldeans, and diviner. In other words,
this Jewish prophet that was in captivity in
Babylon was named by King Nebuchadnezzar the
chief magi, or the chief of the wise men. Well,
what do you imagine this Jewish prophet, this
believer and follower of God Almighty, might
have taught some of these magi and the people
in this priestly clan? Well, we know from the
book of Daniel that Daniel was well -respected
as an interpreter of dreams. He was a prophet.
And historically and archaeologically, we know
that his prophecies were well -known around the
major empires of the day. It's not hard to surmise
that these magi, these wise men from the Persian
Empire were taught by Daniel all about the prophecies
and the terms of the Jewish religion. And one
of those things was specifically the promise
that the Jewish people, the Jewish nation hoped
in that a ruler would one day come with a kingdom
that would never end. And so generation after
generation, these... Magi, these wise men from
the Persian Empire, were primed to look for signs
in the heavens of this coming ruler of the entire
world. And when that sign in the heaven appeared,
they knew exactly what it meant. And so these
wise men left their homeland to go pay homage
to this ruler. This king of the whole world that
they had believed was coming and had been told
was coming and had been looking for for year
after year after year and generation after generation.
And it's just kind of a sad picture because it's
pagan priests who are looking for the king when
many in Jerusalem were not even interested. When
many of the Jewish people were not even looking
out for their Savior to come, they were hoping
for it, they were waiting for it, but nobody
was really searching and looking, and yet these
pagan priests show up asking, where is he who
was born King of the Jews? Now Herod, he was
shook. Look at verse 3. When King Herod heard
this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem
with him. As we said, any thought of political
power coming into the arena outside of Rome's
influence could be a problem. So he assembled
all the chief priests and scribes of the people
and asked them where the Messiah would be born.
In Bethlehem of Judea, they told him, because
this is what was written by the prophet. And
you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are by
no means least among the rulers of Judah. Now,
the details here. when they say child, this word
is a word that can refer to a kid up to two years
old. And that's why commonly from a scholastic
point of view is that these wise men appeared.
Jesus could have been up to two years old at
this point, being considered a young child for
the word that is used here. And so the idea is,
when did this sign appear? Some say that it appeared
at his birth, as we read, and that that's when
they left their homeland. And it took them however
long it took them to get to Jerusalem to see
the baby Jesus. Now, all of this is speculation
and conjecture. There's been some really interesting
mathematics done on scaling back the movement
of the stars in the heavens, because we could
do that with computers now, and pinpointing when
there'd be certain astronomical events and stuff
that would be these bright, shining stars. And
it's really interesting stuff, but, you know,
the point is, is that they saw these signs they
knew to look for them, and they had followed
them to find the king of the Jews. Now, King
Herod, as I said, he was shook by this. It was
a threat to his power. It was a threat to his
control. Now, King Herod himself, he wasn't even
a Jewish man. He was an Edomite. An Edomite was
a descendant of Esau. As we've been studying
through the book of Genesis, we remember that
Jacob and Esau were brothers, and Jacob is the
one who the covenant promise came through, the
promise of the line of the Messiah. And Esau
was kind of... Cast out in that sense. He went
about his own life and his people flourished.
And at this point, we have one of his descendants
installed by Rome as the king over this area
in the Jewish promised land. Now, King Herod
was a very paranoid man. He clung to his power
and his rulership with great paranoia and bloodshed.
To keep his power because he felt threatened,
he killed his own wife. He killed his two sons.
I mean, the man was crazy. And there was a saying
in the days of Herod that it was safer to be
Herod's pig than his child. And so, very bloodthirsty
man. And he had no intention of going to worship
the new king of the Jews. What he wanted to do
was to eliminate another threat. So he hears
this. There's a new king? Who? Where? He consults
with the religious leaders, and the religious
leaders there in the Jewish lands, they know
the scriptures. They quote Micah. They quote
what the word of God says, and they said, yeah,
we know where the Messiah is going to be born.
He's going to be born in Bethlehem. But what's
sad is here are those people who were God's chosen
people. They had God's word. They knew God's
word. They were even able to say, oh, we know
exactly where the Messiah is supposed to be born.
Here are wise men from the east going, the king
of the Jews has been born. Where is he? And yet
these Jewish religious leaders, although they
know the truth, they don't even go to see if
it's true. They don't even bother to go there
and check this out. So, you know, as believers,
we just know that knowledge without obedience
doesn't do anything. It leaves us unchanged,
right? You might be a person who's like, oh,
I know all about Christmas. Oh, baby Jesus. Great.
You have knowledge. But unless you obey God's
word and do what God says, you're unchanged.
There's no salvation in knowledge. There's salvation
in faith in who Jesus Christ is. And, you know,
sadly, these religious leaders, although they
had knowledge, didn't even go to check it out.
And eventually, the wise men find the child.
And then Matthew, he gives us the story of their
arrival, right? He's very, very careful with
his words. In verse 9 of Matthew 2, it says,
After hearing the king, they went on their way,
and there it was, the star they had seen at its
rising. It led them until it came and stopped
above the place where the child was. When they
saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.
Why? Because they believed the prophecy. They
knew what it meant. They knew what it entailed.
And so verse 11, entering the house, they saw
the child with Mary, his mother, and falling
to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they
opened their treasures and presented him with
gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And being
warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they
returned to their own country by another route.
Notice, they enter a house. They see the child.
The star was right there. They're overwhelmed
with joy. Everything they had been told down
through the generations, it's here, he's here.
It's all as it is, but before they do anything
else, they enter the house, the first thing they
do is worship. Take note of that. The first thing
they do is worship. It's after they fall down
before him, after they acknowledge who he is
and respond accordingly, after they give him
homage as king of kings and all that they have
believed, it's after that they offer gifts to
him. The order matters. Worship always precedes
giving. It should always precede giving. Before
God wants what's in your hands, he wants your
heart. Before God wants what you bring to him
and say, look, I did this for you, he wants you
and your obedience and your faith. He even says
that throughout Scripture. I desire obedience
over sacrifice. You see, our relationship with
God is one about understanding this gift we were
given in Jesus, a gift we didn't deserve, a gift
we don't earn, a gift we can never earn. And
when we say, I believe in that, and I believe
that he is God, and I believe he died for my
sins, we are given salvation, eternal life. The
response to that The response to the, he is God
and I worship him and I pledge my life to him,
my heart is yours, is then the obedience of,
God, I'm gonna do what you've called me to do
and I'm gonna offer my time and I'm gonna offer
my resources, but not the other way around. And
sometimes we get that mixed up. I wanna bring
him gifts, but not give him my life. And we think
that the gift will appease God somehow. And we
see the order here with his wise men that they
worship first. Our time and our talent and our
treasure, it's all meant to flow out of surrendered
worship, not replace it. And that's why gatherings
like this are so important, right? We are here
to worship Jesus. Now, if you already gave all
your gifts out this morning, there's no hope
for you. No, just kidding. That's not my point.
But we had our time, right? We got up, for those
of you that do Christmas morning and maybe you
had your hot chocolate and your gifts and you
had this wonderful time. And then we go, you
know what? We may have other stuff going on for
the rest of the day and celebrations and some
of you have like two, three, four, ten family
stops you gotta do. But you took the time this
morning to say, God, you are most important in
my life. And I recognize the gift you gave me
is more important than anything else in my life.
And so I'm going to set time aside to come together
with the rest of my family and to celebrate you.
And that is such a wonderful thing to do. Christmas,
right, of all things to come together and celebrate,
of all things to let the world see that we as
his people will go, yeah, I got dinner and I
got lunch and I got this and I got that, but
I want to come together with my family because
we're going to celebrate him. What a beautiful
witness that is to the world, the opportunity
that we get to do this. And so that's why we
gather. You know, there's a lot of churches in
the world today like, oh. We don't do church
Christmas morning. That's family time, and I
get that. But what more important thing to do
on Christmas Day is there than to come together
for a moment, for a time, as the body to celebrate
Jesus? And then we get to go and have our lunch
and our food and all our Christmas celebrations
and all of that. But he's the point. He's the
foundation. He's the everything. So the wise
men, they come, they fall down, they worship
him. They go, you're the king of kings. You're
it. And then they offer these gifts to him. And
the first gift it tells us they offered him was
gold. Why gold? What's a baby going to do with
gold, right? Now I'm not going to lie. I would
have appreciated somebody giving me gold when
I was a baby. Because it would probably be worth
a lot now, right? You know? But gold, what is
the idea? What are they offering to this young
child who probably doesn't yet even understand
money and the concepts of all these things? Well,
gold is kind of a universal symbol, and in the
ancient world, it was especially a universal
symbol of royalty, right? It was a picture of
royalty. It was like the color purple. It was
such an expensive color in the ancient world
that people that had purple must be very wealthy,
very powerful. Gold was a symbol like that. And
so in those times of kings and monarchs, if you
were to approach a king in a kingdom, whether
you were a subject of that kingdom or a guest
or a visitor, You didn't approach without a gift
of some kind. There was some type of gift to
honor the authority and the power of the person
you were coming before. And so, you know, approaching
with gold was like one of the best gifts you
could bring a king. So what we have here is Gentile
kingmakers bringing royal tribute before the
one true king. acknowledging him as the king,
the king above all. And the Bible supports this
whole concept, not just through prophecy, but
Jesus was announced as king at his birth. He
was declared king at the cross. He was revealed
as the king of kings in glory. You go into the
book of Revelation, and that's who it tells us
he is, the king of kings. See, the question that
we all face at Christmas, the question that our...
friends and family face who may not know Jesus,
may have not come to that place yet, is not whether
Jesus is king. The question is, is he your king?
Is he king of your life? Is he sitting on the
throne of your life, or are you sitting on the
throne of your life? Very important question.
Jesus, you are my everything. You are my all
in all. You are my number one. Great. But I'm
really not going to sacrifice my time, talent,
or treasure for you. Because my needs, my plans
are more important. Well, it doesn't seem like
he's king then, is he? Lord, you've called me
to do this. You called me to serve here. You
called me to do that. You're my king. You're
the king of kings and lord of lords. But only
on Sunday. The rest of my week, you're my friend.
It's a question that Christmas begs of us. It's
a reminder for us as Christians that is he king?
Is he your king? Now, we don't really understand
in our modern world, especially here in the West,
what a king is. We have a president, we have
Congress, we have this republic that is our government.
But most of us have never lived under a true
monarchy. But when we read history books and
we study things, we get a glimpse of what it
meant to have someone as your king. In the old
days of kingdoms and monarchs, the king literally
owned you as a subject in his kingdom. that he
had the power of life and death over you. He
could decide, I don't want you to live anymore,
and he was absolutely justified in that authority.
Not that it's right to kill people, but as a
king, he had the authority to make those decisions.
He had the authority to say, I want you to do
this, and you have to do it, because he's the
king. Is Jesus your king? And it's a serious,
important question. Think of all the areas of
your life. Is he king in your Is he king in your
finances? Is he king in your business? Is he
king in your work life? Is he king in your marriage
and your parenting? He wants to be king, and
he is a good king. He's not some crazy monarch.
And he knows what's right and best. And that
is why we're encouraged as Christians in the
Word and stuff to say, you know, this baby that
was born, He was born to be not just the sacrifice
and all these things, but he is the authority.
He is the example. His life is one where to live
and emulate. And then he, as God, we have his
word and his word is final and it's authority.
It's not for us to question. It's for us to go,
okay, let me understand what he's saying, but
then to obey. And again, it's not because we're
these abused subjects. It's because He paid for
my sin. He gave me a gift that is beyond imagining.
Of course, I want to do everything I can to live
a life of gratitude to him. And that's what this
gift, this gold represented, them acknowledging
his kingship. And then the second gift here we
have is this frankincense. Frankincense is a,
was, is, maybe, I don't know. It's a very rare,
expensive resin that at the time was imported
by caravan from Arabia. In Israel, at the time,
it was used almost exclusively by the priests.
It was burned on the altar. It was mixed with
oil for anointing. As it would burn, it would
offer up a sweet aroma, and they would talk about
this aroma that would rise up to the Lord. And
so it's this really just beautiful picture of
this scent offered up, given. And so the picture
here is you have these priests, right? They weren't
just kingmakers, these wise men. They were priests
from the east bringing priestly incense to this
child. This child who would one day be recognized
and called our great high priest. So he wasn't
just king, but he was also our high priest. The
book of Hebrews, the whole book is about making
this case about who Jesus is as our high priest.
You know, Jesus is the one who represents us
before God. The Bible tells us that, right? He's
our mediator between us and the Father. He's
the one in the court. courtroom picture where
we're standing there before the Father and the
Father's like, here's the litany of things you've
done wrong. And the devil's like, yep, see, I've
got an even longer list. Oh, you didn't get the
full list, right? And it's all true. We've sinned.
We've done all these things. And then Jesus is
the one that goes, yeah, but I already paid the
price for all of that. And the Father goes, you're
right. Not guilty. He intercedes for us. He's
the one. that stands in between as our priest,
as the priest did here on earth. He's the one
that sympathizes with our weaknesses, right?
He gets it. Jesus is in this wonderfully unique
position where, you know, if some people look
at the Father as this like stern, unyielding
Father, and the Bible says that God is spirit,
right? And there's a... a character and a personality
to the Father, and then you have God the Son,
part of the Trinity, right? And the Son is the
one who kind of stands there, and when we screw
up, we mess up, we do something terrible, you
know, he'll turn to the Father, and he goes,
Dad, I know what that temptation's like. It's
hard. It's not justified, but I get it. I died
for that one, too. Not guilty. He offered himself
as the sacrifice, is what the priests did in
Judaism. They would be the ones who took the
sacrifice. The people would say, I offer this
as payment for my sin, and the priests would
take it, and they would be the ones that would
offer that sacrifice to God, and Jesus offered
himself. It tells us that he is the only perfect
atonement, and then he sat down at the right
hand of the Father for the work of... restoring
that relationship with God, it was finished.
It's finished forever. We don't have to keep
going back to the temple every year and keep
making sacrifices every year. No, instead, we
come to times like this, Christmas and Easter,
and we come together and remember it's done.
I'm forgiven, done, and forever. Hallelujah.
Now, the Old Testament priests, they never sat
down. You go back in the Old Testament, you read
about the tabernacle and all the stuff that was
in there. Guess what you don't find? Chairs.
No chairs in the tabernacle, right? Because the
work of the priests was never done. Because the
offering of man's hands can't possibly atone
for sin. And so it was just this constant work
of sacrifice. Day after day. No union. No, here's
your break. It was just shift after shift. And
yet what Jesus did for us as our high priest
was once and for all. He offered that which was
perfect and holy to satisfy a holy God, to satisfy
the justice of a holy God who would look on his
creation and go, the creation has sinned against
me. They're selfish, they're sinful, they're
hateful, they're hurtful. And he said, yeah,
but I offered myself. That sacrifice is complete.
It's done. And yet the wonderful thing about
Jesus is he wasn't a sacrifice that was offered,
burnt up, and gone forever. The Bible says, no,
he rose from the dead and he ever lives to intercede
for us. That he is permanently the bridge, the
perfect bridge between heaven and earth, the
perfect mediator. The only one who is fully God
and fully man at the same time, that's who Jesus
was. And when they bring this frankincense, this
priestly implement, offering it to him, it's
you are king, the gold, and you are priest, the
highest priest. And then the third gift was myrrh.
This is the most sobering gift because myrrh
was used for a lot of things at the time. It
was used as a perfume. It was used as a medicine.
It was used for pain relief. But the thing myrrh
was used most often for was for burial. It was
an embalming resin. And so imagine being Jesus'
parents there. Right? The Warners just got done
doing their jazz. And they bring this gold, right?
Wow, gold, that's royalty. Frankincense, man,
we're familiar with that from the temple. And
then they lay down this myrrh, and you're like,
whoa, whoa, whoa, what's up with that? That's
for burial. That's like embalming fluid. Like,
what are you doing here? Ancient Jewish tradition.
Myrrh, it was well known, was associated specifically
with sacrificial death, right? It was associated
with stories of like Mount Moriah where Abraham
was going to sacrifice Isaac, right? It wasn't
just burial embalming fluid. It was associated
with something that was offered as a sacrifice.
And the message is unmistakable. That as these
wise men are offering these gifts and the myrrh
is laid down, that the message is this child,
this king, this high priest is born to die. Was
born to be a sacrifice. You see the manger, that
feeding trough that he was born in, that very
low and humbling experience. It always pointed
to the cross. It always pointed to what he would
do for us. And we can't forget that at Christmas.
That's why it's funny when I see the world, you
know, they talk about baby Jesus, baby Jesus,
and they make a big, you know, goofy, funny thing
out of it, and you're like, you're missing what
it all points to. The fact that that baby Jesus
is going to have to go die on that cross because
you're a sinner. You've broken God's law. It's
not the teachings of Jesus that save us. It's
not following his example that saves us. It's
not knowing what Christmas is really all about
that saves us. Salvation came only through his
death and our faith that that death atones for
our sins. Myrrh as a resin, as a fragrance, it...
its aroma would only come out when it was crushed.
And that's exactly what happened to Jesus. So
when the wise men, they saw the star, it told
us in the verses that they rejoiced with incredibly,
exceedingly great joy. When they saw the child,
they worshiped. Joy and worship, that is the
right response and still is the right response
to Christmas. For salvation has come. These wise
men, these priests, these kingmakers from the
east, the authority, the power, all that they
had, they knew their place. They knew that as
important as they might be among men, that they
stood before and then should bow before an all
-important king. Kingmakers kneeling before the
king of kings. It's a beautiful story. It's a
beautiful picture of the response that we should
have to the king of kings and his birth. Then
it tells us that they went home, and when they
went home, they were warned in a dream, don't
go back to Herod. He's a big jerk. He's going
to do something really horrifically evil. And
so it says they went home by another route. I
love that detail because if you look at the picture
as a whole here, the story, It is always the
case when we come to Jesus in worship, recognizing
who he is, celebrating that, putting him as the
priority in our life as king, trusting in him
as our high priest, doing everything that saves
us, that secures our salvation, of acknowledging
and appreciating his death and what that meant
as a full payment for us. When we come to that
place, We never leave the same way we came. When
you truly come to know Jesus Christ, born as
a man, living a life, dying on the cross, all
of it, when you come to believe in that and understand
that, you don't leave the same way you came.
You can't because you're different. Your heart's
different. Your life's different. Your understanding,
it's all different. It doesn't mean you're perfect.
It doesn't mean you get it all. But there's a
change that takes place. And so gold, frankincense,
myrrh, these were the gifts given to Jesus. But
of course, Christmas, it's ultimately about the
gift given through Jesus for all of us. The book
of Romans, as Paul the Apostle wrote, he developed
this idea that Adam, the first man, brought sin
and death. But Jesus Christ, called the second
Adam, brought forgiveness and life. Adam, in
the fall when they sinned against God and chose
to disobey, ruined the image of God in man because
we were made in God's image. And yet Jesus Christ
restores that image in our life. The gift of
Jesus to the world means that you are loved.
It means that God sees you. It means that God
knows. And yet he still loves you. It means that
you could be forgiven. The gift of Jesus means
that you can live forever. When you die in this
life, that there's the hope of heaven and eternity.
That's what the gift of Jesus means. It means
that this life isn't all there is. And a lot
of people struggle with that, with all the hurt
and the hate and the just evil and wickedness
in the world. And they go, is this it? This is
terrible. Well, the truth is, this isn't it.
And all that wickedness you see in the world
is a result of sin. And God did something about
that. One, to set us free from its power and
control. To set us free from the penalty of sin.
And there's this whole wonderful book called
the Bible that talks all about these promises.
But like any gift, it has to be received. You
don't benefit from this gift by admiring it.
Oh, wow, that was a pretty gift. Look at that
wrapping. You know, like, I don't wrap gifts,
I'll be honest. I'm like, what's the point? Right,
this morning, grandson's walking out. You know
what he didn't do? Oh, my gosh, that wrapping
paper is so beautiful. Oh, the bow. It's so pretty,
I can't stand it. You know what he did? He shredded
all of it. Ripped it away as fast as he could.
Why? Because he wanted to get to what was inside.
And so that's why I'm like, I love Amazon. They
ship things pre -wrapped. And people go, oh yeah,
they have the gift wrapping option. I'm like,
no, no, no, they ship it in a box. And you go,
here you go, here's your gift. Open the box,
right? That's me. But you have to. receive something.
You can't just admire it. You can't just know
about it. Oh, hey, I know that's a gift. So what?
You didn't open it. I respect that's a gift.
Great. But you haven't. received what it is until
you open it and take it to yourself. You have
to take it and receive it and claim it. And that's
what the gift of Jesus Christ is. That's what
Christmas is about. That's why we remember this
moment in the gifts, that yeah, gifts were given
to him, but he is the gift to us. The gift that
changed everything. The gift that could heal
marriages. The gift that can change your life.
The gift that can set you free from addictions.
The gift that can Name it. It's Jesus. And so
today, don't just celebrate the season. Do that.
Enjoy. But receive the Savior. As we go about
the rest of our day and possibly to other family
events and stuff, remind people of that. It's
not just about celebrating the season. It's about
receiving the Savior. As I give you this gift,
whatever it may be, I also want to encourage
you to receive the free gift that is Jesus Christ.
Because that's the one that's really going to
change everything. Rejoice. Christians, rejoice.
Worship. Bow down to him. He is king. He is high
priest. He is the one who died for you. And if
you've never done this and you've never given
your life to him, receive the gift that is offered
to you because when you do, just like myself
and so many people in this room and watching
online and maybe it's your friends or your family
and maybe you're here with them today or sitting
with them in your living room watching this,
when you receive that gift, you will not go home
the same as you came. You will be changed forever.
Let's pray. God, we're so grateful for this gift
that is you. Lord, we acknowledge the season
and all that this is about, and yet, Lord, there
are so many that go about celebrating this, and
maybe they even have an awareness of why. Oh,
yeah, Christmas is about Jesus, but they haven't
thought about, contemplated that whole... What
is the gift giving about? Like why do we do it
on this one season if there's no meaning? Why
don't we just give gifts every day of every month
of the whole year? Why do we wait till this time?
It's because there's a purpose and a meaning,
Lord, behind Christmas that is more than just
trees and lights and gifts and carols. It is
about us and our lives and our eternity. And
so, God, I just pray for anybody here that knows
they need you. Maybe they look at their life
and they're going, you know, if I'm honest, my
life is a mess. And I'm selfish and I'm mean.
Or maybe it's I'm addicted to this or that, or
my relationships are terrible, and maybe I look
forward to this year to, oh, here's a gift. Maybe
that'll fix everything. And year after year,
it hasn't fixed anything. God, maybe today is
the day that they're realizing. Because it's
more than the gift that they give. It's about
the gift they need to receive. A changed heart,
a changed mind, a saved and forgiven soul, pardoned
guilt being wiped away. the hope of heaven. Having
an old stone heart taken out and a new heart
put in, one that could love the way you love
us, God, the way that you've called us to love
with a pure and unselfish and unconditional heart,
God. And so, Lord, I pray if there's any here
today and any watching that need you, that they
would simply say, Jesus, I don't understand everything
about you and the Bible. but you're speaking
to my heart. And this is resonating with me.
Lord, I want to receive the gift you have for
me. I want to look at Christmas as what it is,
a celebration of your birth. And I acknowledge
that that birth meant That you, God, being born
into this world, came for me. That you lived
a perfect life for me. That you died on the cross
for me. So that the creator of the entire universe,
my creator, would be able to look at me and go,
all the stuff I've done wrong. All the error.
All the... All of the things I've done that deserve
punishment. That punishment was paid by you.
And my guilt is wiped away. God, I receive that
today. Change me. I don't want to leave the same
way I came. And so I receive this gift. I receive
this gift of salvation. and forgiveness and grace
and mercy. Thank you for loving me so much. I
don't even really understand it yet, but I want
to understand it more. Thank you for loving me,
Lord. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. And for the
rest of us that know the Lord and we're here,
I just pray you're blessed. You know, I know
the Lord is blessed that you came today to celebrate
him. It's his birthday after all. You know, and
now we get to go out and continue to celebrate
this day with him. This day that's about him.
And take that light, take that hope, take that
message. Give your gifts, eat your food. Yeah,
all of that. But remember what it's in remembrance
of, what it's reflecting. Take the opportunities
to share that where you can. Let people know.
Yeah, yeah, every year I tell you Christmas is
really about Jesus. I'm going to tell you one
more time. Because God loves you. God loves you
as He loves me. And He died for you as He died
for me. And man, the peace and the joy that I
have that surpasses our understanding, He wants
that for you too. And that's why I tell you every
year at this Christmas thing. Because I love
you that much. I want you to know what I know.
I want you to have the salvation that I have.
Oh, and by the way, here's a PlayStation 5 or
whatever you're going to do. If you have an extra
PlayStation 5, I'll take it, but no, just kidding.
Be blessed today. Merry Christmas. Our Lord,
our Savior has been born. Hallelujah. Amen? Amen.
God bless you guys.