Three Habits Of Highly Successful Seekers

Text: Matthew 2:1-12

"When Chances Come" By Willo Lou Clark

If you had been a lowly shepherd who heard the angels sing,

Would you have left your sheep alone to find the baby King?

If you had been the innkeeper - pressed & hurried since the dawn,

Would you have done the best you could, or told them to move on?

If you had been a wise man - due respect & courtly graces,

Would you have left it all behind to search in unknown places?

We cannot know what we’d have done if we had been there then.

We only know what we do now - when chances come again.

Intro: We looked this morning at the reactions of men to the birth of the Messiah:

a. The ANTAGONISTIC: Herod the Great, upon the arrival of the Magi, feigns to seek to worship the Child, in an effort to destroy Him. (Matt 2:8)

b. The APATHETIC:

i. The chief priests among the Jews, those responsible for leading public worship.

ii. The scribes, those versed in the OT Scriptures, and even knew the birthplace of the coming Messiah were indifferent.

iii. They were not seeking Him at all, and even with news from the Magi, make no effort to seek Him out. (Matt 2:4)

c. The ATTENTIVE: The Magi

I want to preach tonight about “The 3 Habits of Highly Successful Seekers”, and focus our attention on what the Wise Men did when they found the Christ child.

I. (v.11) THEY WORSHIPPED HIM – first thing we read in the narrative that they did.

a. They come into the House of God (the house where the Christ child was) with an attitude to worship.

b. The word “worship” = an old English word meaning “worth-ship”, or to ascribe worth to someone, to esteem worthy, to reverence, to bow low before someone.

i. Woman at the well: John 4

1. Unlike the Magi, she is ignorant of even being in the Divine Presence.

2. She is a reject of society:

a. She is a reject of men

i. Five husbands have put her away through divorce.

ii. The man she is with now finds some use for her, but was not committed enough to her to seal the relationship with a binding legal commitment of marriage.

b. She is a reject of women: She comes to the well in the heat of the day, when the ladies of the village will not be there.

c. The circumstances & choices of life have relegated this woman to the category of a social outcast.

d. She wants something for nothing: “Give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.”

c. The Magi recognized perhaps more than anyone in Israel the IMPORTANCE of worship. (from Woman at the Well narrative)

i. God Desires Our Worship (John 4:23b) “…for the Lord seeketh such to worship him.”

ii. God Deserves Our Worship: Who else could have saved our souls.

iii. God Demands Our Worship: Jesus’ response to Satan in the wilderness, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matt 4:10)

d. The two great INGREDIENTS of worship, SPIRIT & TRUTH

i. Worship in Spirit: Men are concerned with the ACT of worship, while God is concerned about the OBJECT of worship. Where?

1. Muslims: Mecca/Dome of the Rock

2. Martin Luther, ascending steps to the highest point in Rome

3. The place is WITHIN YOU

a. Luke 17:20b-21 “The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for behold, the kingdom of God is WITHIN YOU.”

b. “Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost”

ii. Worship in Truth: All time high interest in salvation, low interest in Christian living in America.

1. The foundation of the Gospel is based in a call to repentance—to abandon a lifestyle of sin and accept the Word of God as the basis of Truth.

e. The IMPLICATIONS OF WORSHIP: If this Babe born in Bethlehem’s Manger really is the Christ-child, then we should respond with worship!

i. Look at the Samaritan Woman’s reaction: She forgets about herself and focuses on Jesus: “Come see a man..” She leaves her WATERPOT behind.

ii. Look at the Magi: They travel a great distance to worship the Christ. No distance was too far.

1. Quote from Bro. Painerd: “We are willing to sacrifice for what we worship.”

iii. Worship evokes our emotions: We realize that HE IS WORTHY!

1. True worship is focusing on the Master.

2. True worship is US blessing Him (“Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”)

iv. Worship is a Sacrifice: “…the fruit of our lips giving praise to His name.”