A King is Worshiped
Worship by seeking (Matthew 2:1-10)
Worship by giving (Matthew 2:11-12)
By giving your self (v.11a)
By giving your stuff (v. 11b)
By giving your service (v. 12)
Slide
Over these last several weeks we have been looking at Jesus as the newborn King, as a King like no other.
We have seen that He is a king like no other in that His coming was prophesied and foretold in detail that He would come through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah. That He would be through the line of David.
We have seen that He is a King like no other in that His birth was through miraculous and special events and through people of extreme faith so that God would demonstrate His incredible love by being with us in a special and unique way, first in bodily form, and then by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Today we are going to see how we should worship this king like no other through taking a look at how those who were at a distance to God’s people took the things that were revealed to them and worshiped this newborn King.
We are going to jump right in this morning so
Turn with me to Matthew 2:1-12 (p. 681)
Slide
We will be reading about the magi, or what is often is referred to as the wise men.
We are going to look at how they worshiped and seek to learn how we might worship this King like no other.
Matthew 2:1-12
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6 "’But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’"
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The first thing we find out about these men is that they are seeking this newborn King.
In verse 2, they say, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
One of the ways we worship the King is by Seeking Him
Slide
Worship by Seeking
Matthew 2:1-10
Now, have you ever wondered how it is that these men came to be seeking this king?
They are not Jews.
They are from far away.
How do they know that some astrological sign that they have seen is in reference to some King of the Jews?
The Scriptures don’t tell us specifically, but as I studied this passage and these men this week, I discovered some interesting things that may indicate how this could be.
The magi were actually, according to John MacArthur, Jr. “members of an Eastern priestly group, descendants of a tribe of people originally associated with the Medes.”
(John MacArthur. Birth of the King – Who were the wise men, accessed at http://www.biblebb.com/files/mac/sg2182.htm on 12/9/08)
The Medes were one of the major groups and empires that ruled much of the world around the time of Daniel. In fact, one of the kings that ruled over Daniel in Babylon was Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:31).
Anyway, in Daniel’s day, all the kings who ruled from Babylon, (which is east of Israel, where the magi from our story would have travelled from) in what is now Iraq) would surround themselves with wise men and these wise men always included magi or magicians and astrologers.
Now when Daniel and his friends had been taken captive to Babylon, Daniel had been gifted by God with the ability to interpret dreams and he interpreted the dream of one of the kings, Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel made chief of Magicians…
Because none of the other Magicians or “wise men” could interpret the dreams, we find that Daniel was made “chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.” (Daniel 5:11)
Now we know that Daniel was a man of God and in his role as chief over these men he would certainly have influence on them.
There is no doubt that this man of God would share with these wise men, the true wisdom that came from God from the book of the law and the prophets.
In fact, after Daniel was rescued by God from the lion’s den, Darius (the Mede) issued this decree,
"I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel” (Daniel 6:26).
So it would have been to the wise men’s political benefit to learn about the God of Daniel.
Now in their learning about Daniel’s God, here is something that could have been taught and handed down to future magi.
Perhaps they would have learned something about the timing of the Messiah’s coming as we see in Daniel 9 where we learn about the 70 sevens.
Perhaps Daniel would have taught them about the coming King from Numbers 24:17-19
There it talks about a star from Jacob
Numbers 24:17-19
17 "I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;…
19 A ruler will come out of Jacob …
Can you imagine then, when they end up in Jerusalem and ask about where the one who was born King of the Jews is, that the teachers and scribes quote a passage in Micah 5:2 that says, “out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel”
These wise men, must have been so excited that they were going to see with their own eyes the one they were seeking, the one which their ancestors had spoken of concerning Daniel’s God.
A Star had come out of Jacob, a ruler over Israel, the King of the Jews.
They are seeking the one whom they have heard about from Daniel, from the Scriptures that were used to teach them about the God of Daniel.
That is worship. To seek the One whom the word points us to.
Now they did not know everything.
They did not have perfect doctrine by any means.
But they sought the King with hearts that were open.
Are you seeking with an open heart?
Are you willing to worship the king wherever He leads you?
Are you worshiping by seeking like the wisemen?
Jesus says “seek and you will find.” (Matthew 7:7)
If we want to know this king better we need to seek Him through His word.
How is it you want me to live Lord? Seek it in the word.
How is it you want me to love? Seek it in the word.
How is it you want me to worship? Seek it in the word.
Seek Him in His word and He will reveal His ways to you.
We have been given a fuller revelation than these wise men had so we can better worship this king in Truth because we know more of the truth.
Let’s worship Him by seeking to know Him more every day.
Another way these men worship this new born king is they
Worship by Giving
Slide
We see several things they give and I am not talking about their gifts yet.
Before they give him gifts, we see them give themselves.
You need to
Worship by giving your Self
Slide
Look at Matthew 2:11a
11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
They bowed down and worshiped him.
They came reverently to this king, recognizing Him as King and Lord, and they worshiped Him.
Romans 12:1 says “to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.”
These wisemen came and gave themselves first as an act of worship.
The King of kings wants you before anything else.
He wants to be in relationship with you.
This is why He came as a newborn King, so he could be with you. Remember last week, we talked about Immanuel, God with us.
God left the glory of heaven to be with us.
These Magi, these wise men, came to give themselves to this king who gave himself for them.
Won’t you do that?
Won’t you give yourself to the King of kings and Lord of lords.
There honestly is no better person to give yourself to.
This King will
care for you better than you can care for yourself.
watch over you.
protect you.
give you a hope and a future.
We need to Worship Him by giving ourselves to this King like these wise men did.
How do you do that?
Well when we seek Him in the word, we find that it tells us how we do that.
Romans 10:9 tells us to “confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
These wisemen came confessing that Jesus was Lord, that He was the King.
I want you to think about that. Have I given myself to this King by confessing Him as Lord, as King of kings?
If not won’t you do that right now.
Before we finish this message worship this newborn king by confessing Him as king and receiving Him as Savior.
If you don’t ever remember a time when you consciously did that, won’t you do that right now? Just confess this belief to God in prayer. Pray along with me as I lead you in that.
Pray
After the wisemen worshiped by giving themselves, they worshiped by giving their stuff.
The next step in worshiping the king is to
Worship by giving your stuff
Slide
Matthew 2:11b
They gave to this King gifts and sacrifices out of their treasure.
That is pretty easy to give our stuff, our resources, when times are good and your treasures are abundant.
But times ain’t so good.
How do you worship with your stuff
when times are tough?
when people are losing their jobs?
when your retirement portfolio looks like it did 15 years ago?
How do you worship by giving your stuff when you don’t know if you have enough to live on?
This is where it truly becomes worship.
First, understand that you worship with what you have, not what you don’t have.
It is not about the amount, but about your heart.
Tithing
If I believe that tithing is a biblical principal that glorifies the Lord by showing that I trust Him to care for me, and I don’t do it because I don’t think I will be able to feed my family, I am basically saying that I don’t trust the Lord.
That is not worship.
But if I give 10% of whatever I have as a first fruit offering to the Lord, saying Lord, I believe that this is what your word teaches and I trust you that You will provide exactly what I need to live and what my family needs to live.
That is worship.
This world teaches us to
Look out for number one
Trust No one.
Make your own way.
God teaches us that
He will look out for us
He is trustworthy
He will make our way
And when we give our stuff to Him as a sign of faith that He is trustworthy, we worship Him.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:7-8
7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
God cares for us and provides for us.
Worship by giving your stuff with your heart.
A great example of worship through giving is the Macedonian churches that Paul talks about in
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
8:1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.
They gave themselves first to the Lord. They trusted Him with their eternity and then they trusted Him with their earthly life and provision.
That is worship by giving of your stuff.
Finally, you need to
Worship By Giving …Your Service
Slide
Matthew 2:12
12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
How did they serve the Lord by going another route?
Well, they faced a choice.
Whom would they serve?
Would they serve Herod and themselves by returning to Herod to tell Him of the newborn King and perhaps receive a reward and political benefits?
Or would they serve the Lord by avoiding Herod and any benefits that they thought may be provided?
Maybe they could go tell Herod now and then later choose to worship the Lord.
They could do what they want and then trust the Lord.
Decisions, decisions.
Do you ever think that if the Lord did not want them to let Herod know where Jesus was, He could have directed them straight to Jesus instead of stopping first to see Herod?
Maybe you are facing some choices right now and wondering what God is doing.
If God did not want me to get a divorce, why is He not making me happy in my marriage?
If God did not want me to have to lie to my clients he wouldn’t give me bosses that are encouraging me to do that or else lose my job.
That is Satan talking in those circumstances. Because the reality is that without choices that either serve the Lord or serve ourselves, we aren’t truly worshiping.
God puts us in positions with choices so we can worship Him.
Joshua, at the end of his life when he was giving final instructions to Israel said,
Joshua 24:15
15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
God could make it so we did not have choices, but then we couldn’t choose to worship Him by serving Him.
And I want to tell you that each day you choose not to serve the Lord, the choices become harder and the circumstances more painful.
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”
Application
Won’t you choose to serve the Lord today?
Serve Him in your job. Choose to be a person of integrity and worship the Lord as you serve Him.
Serve Him in your marriage. Choose to be a godly spouse no matter what your wife or husband chooses. Worship the Lord as you serve Him.
Serve Him in the church. Choose to use some of your time to help the church fulfill its mission of helping other people become followers of Christ and growing in their faith.
Worship God by giving your service to Him.
Jesus, when He was being tempted by Satan said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ’Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’" (Matthew 4:10)
Will you Worship the Lord by serving Him?
Will you make the choice to serve this new born king?
Conclusion
Whatever choices you are facing right now, I want to pray for you for strength to make a wise choice.
I want to ask you to close your eyes and bow your heads as we get ready to pray.
If you are facing some choices in life right now where you know what God wants you to do, but you just don’t feel like you have the strength or faith to follow the Lord, I want to pray that God will strengthen you and increase your faith to make the choice to serve Him.
If that describes you, then just raise your hand now to indicate that you need prayer for strength and faith to choose to serve God.
Maybe you are facing a choice where you really don’t know what God wants you to do, I want to pray for wisdom for you from the Lord to know what He wants you to do.
If that describes you, then just raise your hand to indicate that you want prayer for wisdom.
Whatever your need, let’s pray to the Lord.
Pray
We are going to close in worship. If you have other needs that you would like to pray for or you would like to know more about what it means to receive Jesus as your savior, you can come up to the front where there will be people who ready to talk with you and pray with you.
Let’s stand as we close in worshiping this King like no other.
