Intro:
1. Several passages of scriptures just amaze me:
"12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father." John 14:12
"23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me." John 17:23
"23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." John 4:23
2. I am amazed that God is actually seeking my worship! In our passage we have an answer to the question - How to worship God?
3. Wise Worship.
Trans: Mt. 2:1-23
I. First, worship always focuses on the Savior.
"Now after Jesus was born...seen His star...come to worship Him...stood over where the young Child was...fell down and worshiped Him...presented gifts to Him" - the focus was not on Mary or Bethlehem or the star but on Jesus Christ Himself.
Truth is - we know very little about these wise men; or what exactly that star was; and many other questions may be raised - but that does not matter because Christmas is not about those things. It is about Jesus Christ!
"Everything else is left out of the picture in order that the full emphasis may be placed on this one thing, namely, "We have come to worship Him." We are not given a detailed description of the star. We are not told how the magi connected this star with the birth.
We are not told how many magi there were, how they dressed, how they died, or where they were buried. All that and much more is purposely left in the shade in order that against this dark background the light may shine forth all the more brilliantly. These wise men, whoever they were, wherever they came from, came to worship Him.
In the present instance, as is clear from verse 11, this can mean nothing less than it was their intention to fall down before the Messianic King in humble adoration."
Worship always focuses on Jesus...
"14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you." John 16:14
Mt.8:2; 14:33; 15:26; 28:9,17/Rev.5:6-13/etc.
The real star of Bethlehem was that baby who was born to die, if we get sidetracked from Him unto how many wise men; speculations about their names; what was the star made of; how many presents will I get this year; etc. Then we miss the whole point of Christmas.
Luis Palau tells of a wealthy European family that decided to have their new born baby baptized in their enormous mansion. Many people were invited, it was an elegant and elaborate affair.
They took off their coats and laid them on the bed in a designated room and soon the time came for the main purpose of their gathering - but no one could find the baby!
To the horror of all they finally found the baby, it was now buried under the pile of coasts, jackets, and furs, nearly smothered to death.
If we bury Jesus under our traditions, our families, our good works, our emotions, our music, our programs, or our rotten self - we truly miss the reason for the season.
II. Furthermore, worship is always by God's Spirit.
This star, which I will be preaching about this Sunday morning at the church where I pastor, has been viewed as a literal star as well as the Shekiah glory of God. It can be a picture of the believer as we seek to focus on Christ.
But it also can be viewed as a picture of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
A. The star Initiated the whole thing - no star = no worship. It appeared to the magi. There is no real worship that is not initiated by the Holy Spirit.
B. The star Legislated their every movement - it led them to Bethlehem, it stopped over the manger where Jesus was.
To worship God one must be indwelt with the Spirit (1 Cor.3:16, which is true of all and only believers in Christ); filled with the Spirit (Eph.5:18); walking in the Spirit (Gal.5:16); and strengthen in the inner man by the Spirit (Eph.3:16); and thus serving Him in the Spirit (Rom.7:6). Jn. 4:23/Phil.3:3
I have an Ipod and it has the Bible on it and many praise songs which are helpful in worship. But this ipod must be contantly plugged into a power source. The power source in the Christian life is the Holy Spirit. If we do not stay connected to Him in fellowship and intimacy we run out of power. We can go to church, sing, read the Bible, but it is all in vain without the power of the Holy Spirit.
III. Thirdly, when we worship we will have Satanic opposition. 3-8. 12-18
Herod was a cruel and suspicious hateful man - so is Satan!
"8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8
Herod wanted to worship Jesus like those Roman soldiers (Mt.15:17-19) or like the Pharisees (Mt. 15:8-9)...
Satan hates Jesus Christ and those who worship Him. Rev. 12:1-5
Just as we have to draw upon the source of Power to worship; so we also have to stand against the source of Prevention to worship - it is vital that we deal with the source.
Reminds me of a member who always prayed the same prayer every time she came to church, "Oh Lord, clean out all the cobwebs in my life!"
One service a godly old woman got tired of hearing it and said, "Lord, don't do it! Kill the spider!"
IV. Forth, worship involves the Scriptures. 4, 17
Scriptures without the Spirit of God's illumination will not work; but neither will a socalled intimacy with the Spirit while neglecting the Scriptures.
The Bible is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph.6:17); and God's Word is alive (Heb.4:12); they are God breathed (2 Tim. 3:16); and must be a central part of any true worship.
Justin Martyr an early church apologist, born about 100 AD, wrote this about the worship service:
"On Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country, gather together to one place. The memoirs of the apostles, or the books of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then, when the reader has ended, the president in a discourse instructs and exhorts to the imitation of these glorious examples."
Too many services has become too complicated! Diverted from the simple preaching of the Word of God. We may call 10 minutes of announcements; 45 minutes of singing; and 12 minutes of preaching a worship service but it is not! It is a weak service and everybody who has sat under such a system knows it!
V. Fifth, worship brings great Shouting. v.10
"10 When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy." Matthew 2:10 (AMP)
Have you ever watched how people respond to a sporting event?
Pasc al the French mathematician after a time of worship wrote in his journal"
"Fire! Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy! Jesus Christ! Fire!"
VI. Six, worship involves Sacrifice. 11
Of course we can only sacrifice because we have received His sacrifice at Calvary...
A. Gift of gold - fit for Royalty.
B. Gift of frankincense - fit for Deity.
C. Gift of myrrh - fit for Humanity.
These were expensive gifts, it cost the wise men to worship Christ. It was about a 4 month travel journey just to get there!
"24...I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver." 2 Samuel 24:24
Not that we merit anything - but real worship always cost! It cost time, energy, money, sleeplessness; etc.
Charles Stanley, "David felt that he could not honor God by offering a gift that cost him nothing. God wants our best, not because He needs it, but because by giving we demonstrate that our goods are not our God."
Dont panic I am not asking you for an offering! My "Donation" button on my web site has only been used one time! That was by my son, to test it out to see if it worked!
VII. Finally, it involved Submission. 12, 19-23
Samuel told Saul, "Obedience is better than sacrifice." (1 Sam. 15:2)
You have to be impressed with the obedience of these magi, they understood that there can be no worship without obedience (Jn.14:21).
Ann Graham Lotz and her husband Denny go to football games at the University of North Carolina. Thousands of people cram in the parking lots and she cannot see where she is going. So she holds on to her husbands hand because he is 6' 7''!
She said, "The way I get from the car to my seat is just by holding his hand and following him closely through the crowd."
The she said, "I just try to faithfully follow the Lord step by step and day by day. Ten years from now I just want to look back and know that to the best of my ability I have been obedient to God's call on my life."
God's call on all of our lives is that we would worship Him and there is no other way then the way of obedience.
Con:
1. I said at the beginning of this message that I am amazed that God desires for us to worship Him - should not that fact make us hungry to worship Him?
2. The French have a proverb, "A good meal ought to begin with hunger."
Why is it we are not hungry for feasting on Almighty God? We have filled up with junk food!
3. Reminds me of an Andy Griffith episode - The Spaghetti Meal.
Aunt Bee was visiting relatives and Opie to a Scout trip, so Andy was looking forward to some time alone. But Goober comes over and insists on keep Andy company. He makes Andy a spahetti meal with a special spaghetti sause.
Earlier Helen had called and talked to Goober about inviting Andy over for supper. Howard Sprague also called about something.
Andy and Goober were eating their spaghetti supper - with the special ragu sauce. Goober suddenly remembers that Andy had been invited to supper!
The problem was, Goober got the messages mixed up and told Andy that Howard had invited by Howard for supper. He shows up and they are confused but didn't want to hurt Andy's feelings so they put together something for him to eat - spaghetti with a special sauce!
Andy stuffed finally gets back home - Goober remembers it was Helen not Howard that invited him to dinner! So off he heads to Helen's and of course they have spaghetti with a special sauce!
Andy eats but doent enjoy the meal because he is filled to the brim!
I wonder if we do not stuff ourselves with the things of this world and then show up Sunday wondering why we are not hungry for God? Let keep in mind Jesus is not just one of many things we focus on at Christmas - He is the focus of Christmas period.
Johnny Palmer Jr
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
