INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• It is December; Christmas is going to be here in a few short days. Have you been buying all your gifts?
• How many of you love electronic stuff?
• I LOVE the latest techie gadgets. If I had an unlimited income, I would have everything electronic thing known to man.
• I remember anxiously going to see Santa to tell him what I wanted to receive from him for Christmas. For me Christmas was all about IWANT! It was quicker for me to tell Santa what I did not want verses what I wanted.
• SLIDE #2
• The Apple corporation has hit on the “I” craze with their IPods, ITunes, IPhones, ITouches, and IMacs along with all the stuff you can get with them.
• Apple has made tons of money on these personal electronic gadgets.
• What do you get when you own all the “I” stuff from Apple? IBROKE!
• Wanting things is not always bad, I do believe there needs to be some balance of wants verses what we can afford.
• Instead of bashing our consumer mentality, for the next 3 weeks, we are going to build on the “I” theme of Apple Corporation to look at 3 new iWANT items that can change our lives.
• These iWants can make our lives better and they are all within reach, we can ALL afford them, they will not ruin our bank accounts because God sent His Son to make these items something we can all have.
• The first IWANT of this three week series is entitled, “iWant to believe in something bigger than me. We will be in Matthew 2:1-12 as we look at the account of the wise men going to see Jesus.
• These wise men were on a trip of a lifetime, they were looking to believe in something bigger than themselves. Are you ready to begin the journey of believing in something bigger than yourself?
• Let’s walk with the wise men together this morning as they embark on their great adventure!
• Let us turn to Matthew 2:1-12 together. We will begin in verses 1-2.
• SLIDE #3
• Matthew 2:1-2 (ESV) 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
• SLIDE #4
• From verses 1-2 we see that the wise men were seeking something bigger than themselves.
SERMON
I. THE WISE MEN WERE SEEKING SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THEMSELVES TO BELIEVE IN.
• We do not know a lot about these wise men. They were most likely philosophers, priests, astrologers, or astronomers from Persian, Arabia, or Babylon.
• We do not know how many of them there were. The assumption from folks has been that there were three because of the three gifts.
• Supposedly Catholic Pope Leo the Great in 450 A.D. was given credit for saying there were three.
• I wish we were given some insight to the lives of these wise men but we were not.
• What drove these men to seek something bigger? What drives us to seek something bigger than self to believe in?
• These men most likely had position, power, and prestige, yet there was something missing.
• We can seemingly have it, yet something does not quite seem right.
• How do we go about seeking something bigger than ourselves to believe in?
• Here are three things we can glean from the account concerning the wise men.
• SLIDE #5
1. Seeking requires being aware there is something bigger to believe in.
• This is something we need to understand, think of the wise men for a moment. They could have ignored the star in the East; they could have explained it away. Why did not just ignore what they saw?
• They were aware there was something bigger out there to believe in than themselves.
• When you are aware, you will see the signs. When you realize there is a God in heaven and it is not you, all the sudden we quit attributing everything to luck, chance, and circumstance.
• I wonder why others did not see the star.
• They saw His star in the east, but there is no evidence that it continued to shine or that it led them to Jerusalem. They had to inquire as to where He was.
• WE will not seek if we are not aware. Many people see the hand of god each day, but because they do not want to believe there is something bigger than self, they refuse to see what is before them.
• The second thing we see regarding seeking is that seeking requires effort.
• SLIDE #6
2. Seeking requires effort.
• Do you when the wise men saw the star and decided to follow it, they traveled 1500-2000 miles to worship the new King? They did not fly in the corporate jet or drive their cars, it was camels and walking.
• These respected men were willing to go to great effort and expense not to mention the safety concerns of such a long trip. They would be on the path for 3-4 months seeking to worship something larger than themselves.
• This is where many fall short; there is not a willingness to put forth the effort to seek what is missing in their lives.
• Matthew made a significant point in highlighting the worship of these wise men (who were pagan astrologers, wise in the ways of secular science, diviners, and magicians) in contrast to the Jewish religious leaders who knew the Holy Scriptures and did not need to travel far to find their Messiah.
• The Jewish leaders directed the wise men to Bethlehem but apparently did not go themselves (2:4-6).
• They would have had to travel but a few short miles to worship the real King, the King they themselves were looking for!
• The third thing we need to understand about seeking is:
• SLIDE #7
3. Seeking requires understanding the need to seek.
• I have to assume these wise men understood the reason they needed to seek.
• For many people they do not seek because they do not understand the need to do so.
• The wise men could have seen the star, then received direct revelation from God concerning its meaning and responded by saying that stuff was for women, children, and the weak minded.
• Something within them understood they needed to seek Him!
• Let us look at verses 3-8
• SLIDE #8
• Matthew 2:3-8 (ESV) 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”
• SLIDE #9
II. HEROD WAS AFRAID THERE WAS SOMETHING BIGGER THAN HIMSELF TO BELIEVE IN.
• Herod does not seem to be too happy at the prospect of there being a new born king in his country.
• Why was Herod so upset? He was getting pretty old by this time, this child would pose no threat to him.
• SLIDE #10
1. Something bigger than self to believe in can be intimidating.
• Our passage says that Herod was troubled over the prospect of there being something bigger than him.
• The word troubled can be translated “extreme agitation and fearfulness”.
• Herod was fearful; he had taken power by committing great crimes and shedding much blood. He held power by having his own children and wives killed.
• Herod fought hard for what he thought was his, he did not want to give up anything he thought was his, he would and had shed the blood of his own family to hold on to what he thought was his.
• How many people do not want to believe in anything other than themselves because they do not want to lose “control”, they fear that.
• Why do atheists get so uptight over things like Christmas? Deep down they are afraid it is true, because then they would have to be accountable, which they do not want.
• SLIDE #11
2. Fear can cause us to intimate others into not believing.
• This was a time that should have been a time of great joy; the LONG awaited and expected savior was HERE!
• People should have been dancing in the streets, instead, fear.
• Jerusalem was troubled, they were afraid of what Herod was going to do next, by this time he was closing in on his death, he was unpredictable, the people feared him.
• This is what the ACLU and others atheist groups are trying to do today. They are trying to intimate cities and governments into removing all religious references to Christmas and other holidays.
• SLIDE #12
3. Fear of something bigger than self to believe in can lead to searching with the wrong motivation.
• Notice that Herod brought the wise men before him so he could ascertain where he could find the child so he could “worship” the child. I am not sure I would want the kind of worship Herod had in mind for Jesus.
• Herod had no intention of worshipping Jesus, he was not really seeking the truth concerning whom Jesus was; Herod wanted to eliminate him.
• Those who are afraid will seek not to find, but to try to destroy.
• When we do not want to believe in something bigger than ourselves, we will go to great lengths to make sure we do not travel down the path with an open mind.
• Let us now look at verses 9-12
• SLIDE #13
• Matthew 2:9-12 (ESV) 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
• SLIDE #14
III. THE WISE MEN FOUND SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THEMSELVES TO BELIEVE IN.
• The journey was over! The wise men saw the star again and they found the long awaited child. Look at how they reacted.
• SLIDE #15
1. Finding something bigger to believe in can bring great joy!
• These guys rejoiced with EXCEEDINGLY great joy.
• When you find Jesus, you will experience joy beyond belief.
• I remember when I found the Lord; it was a great day and each day since has been a blessing and a joy.
• Jesus has been so good to me even in the trials of life.
• Herod was troubled, the city of Jerusalem was troubled, the wise men were joyful.
• Which do you want?
• SLIDE #16
2. Finding something bigger to believe in will lead us to sacrifice.
• What did the wise men do when they worshipped the king? They brought gifts. These gifts were not cheap leftovers.
• Gold, this speaks for itself. Gold symbolized power.
• Frankincense. This was an expensive glittering, odorous gum obtained from the bark of certain trees, was a gift for deity.
• Myrrh was a valued spice and perfume (Psalm 45:8), also came from trees and was used in embalming; thus, it was a gift for a person who was going to die.
• These gifts most likely sustained the family when they had to flee to Egypt.
• Notice the wise men also sacrificed their time to worship the king. When you find the Lord, you will want to give your all to Him!
• SLIDE #17
3. Finding something bigger to believe in will change your life!
• Do you think the lives of these wise men were ever the same?
• Do you think they just went on with their lives like nothing ever happened?
• What about you? When you found Jesus was your life ever the same?
CONCLUSION
• Are you ready to believe in something bigger than you? Are you ready to receive the King of kings, Lord of lord with exceedingly great joy?
• Do you think it is time to put your life in the hands of your creator?
• Today is the day, we can be like the wise men, or we can be like Herod and the rest of Jerusalem.
• Maybe you are not ready to receive the King yet, I hope that today may be the day that you at least get on your camel and make the journey to come see!
