Wise Men Seek Christ

Mt. 2:1 – 2

Introduction

Illustration: Pastor Wangyi And The Church
In December 2018, pastor Wang Yi and his wife Jiang Rong, along with more than 100 church members, were arrested. The pastor then wrote a letter of which he said, “Separate me from my wife and children, ruin my reputation, destroy my life and my family – the authorities are capable of doing all of these things. However, no one in this world can force me to renounce my faith…Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us. He is my king and the king of the whole earth yesterday, today, and forever. I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God, and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws. “ And many Christians all over the world have read Pastor Wang’s letter online.
China has witnessed a religious revival over the past four decades, in particular with a significant increase in Christian believers. The number of Chinese Protestants has grown by an average of 10 percent annually since 1979. By some estimates, China is on track to have the world’s largest population of Christians by 2030. Underground church is increasing
It is estimated that there are 500 conversions to Christ every day in the People’s Republic of China. Others say that it is an even greater number than that! Wise men from the East still seek Christ!
I hope NZ, Australia, US and Europe would experience such a revival! Oh, how I wish the people in our country would seek Christ and let nothing stop them from coming to church – like those wise people in China do! People say they are too busy or have a family reunion here. They have no time to be real Christians.
One day those Chinese people will be in Heaven, while the NZ’s, Ausies, Americans, Europeans will be burning in the everlasting flames of Hell. Jesus said:
“I say unto you, That many shall come from the east… and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11-12).
Many Chinese, Filipinos, Africans and others will be in Heaven, while thoughtless white peoples, with all their luxury now on earth, will then be burning in Hell. Every person in this room is rich when compared to a poor Chinese or African peasant, but “the rich man…died…And in hell he lifts up his eyes, being in torments” (Luke 16:22-23).
Oh, I caution you this Sunday morning, do not be like the lazy, foolish people, who say you can be a Christian without being in church. Don’t listen to them! Don’t be like them! Be in church every time the door is open! Come to Church! Our text says, “there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem” seeking Christ. I hope you will follow the example of these eastern wise men.

I. The Wise men
A. Wise men. The original word here is magi from which comes our word magician, now used in a bad sense, but not so in the original. The persons here denoted were philosophers, priests, or astronomers. They dwelt chiefly in Persia and Arabia. They were the learned men of the eastern nations, devoted to astronomy, to religion, and to medicine. They were held in high esteem by the Persian court, were admitted as counsellors, and followed the camps in war, to give advice.
B. From the east. It is unknown whether they came from Babylon, (Iraq), Persia (Iran), or Arabia. Both countries might be denoted by the word east–that is, east from Judea.
C. Also, another tradition tells us that this event happened at the manger, but a close look at the scriptures shows us that most likely two years have passed. Vs. 16
D. Observe that in LK. 2:12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The Lord Jesus Christ is described as a babe (baby)
E. “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.”
F. Also, the phrase “young child” is seen many times in this passage so most likely Jesus is somewhere around two years old here. Let’s look at them together.
Vs. 11,13,14,20,21
G. “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” (Mt. 2:11)
H. “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. (Mt. 2:13) When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt” (Mt. 2:14)
I. “Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.” (Mt. 2:20-21)
J. One of the interesting items of this is that that phrase “young child” is mentioned seven times. Seven is God’s number of completion.
K. Many suppose that Joseph and Mary remained at Bethlehem until the forty days of purification were passed; that the young child was presented in the temple as recorded in Lu 2:22; that then they returned to Bethlehem; were visited shortly after by the wise man, and thence fled into Egypt. If this is correct, the young child must have been six or seven weeks old at the time of the visit.
L. Days of purification – Lk. 2: 22. Days of her purification. Among the Hebrews a mother was required to remain at home for about forty days after the birth of a male child and about eighty for a female, and during that time she was reckoned as impure –that is, she was not permitted to go to the temple or to engage in religious services with the congregation, Lev. 12:3-5

II. They sought Jesus
A. Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
B. How about you?
C. “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).
D. Wise men still seek the Lord Jesus. They should do so especially with the time clock of humanity running out. Men are growing worse and worse according the Bible. It may not be long before our Lord comes for us in the rapture and put this world into the tribulation period as we know must come according to the Bible.
E. Wise men will seek Him now. There will be time when He won’t be able to be found Thus, the prophet Isaiah said, “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.” (Isa. 55:6)
F. Have you sought the Lord? Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour? God’s gift is eternal life. What a gift to receive this Christmas
G. God assisted the in their search by providing them the star.
H. For us Christians, Matt. 6:33 is Lord’s command.

III. They persevered in their search for Him
A. They travelled a long time. Some commentators thought they may have travelled for more than four months to get to Jerusalem.
B. Perhaps they rode camels. They had to cross a great desert or go around it. It would take many weeks to make the journey. It took Ezra and his companions four months to come from Babylon back to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:9). These men may have taken as much time.
C. However, if the commentators’ belief that Jesus is already at least 2 years old, they have been searching Him for 2 years.
D. It’s a fact that when you travel for 30 mins or 1 hour, just to go to church, you don’t want to go to that church anymore. You want to find a nearer one despite of that fact that you are travelling on a brand-new car with all the luxuries and technologies inside.
E. The fact that these men kept on and on, week after week, until they got to Christ is an important lesson in perseverance. You, too, must keep on searching for Jesus until you actually find him in a real conversion You must search out Jesus Christ, Himself, and then He will forgive you and save you.

IV. They worshipped Christ.
A. The Bible says, “they saw the young child…and worshipped him” (Matthew 2:11). And they were right to worship Him, because He is God in human flesh, Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”
B. To worship means to bow down; to honor; to exalt; to pay homage; to reverence (Ge 24:52; Ex 4:31; 12:27; 24:1; 33:10; 34:8; Mt 2:11). Bible truths about worship:

Only the Lord God of the Bible is to be worshipped (Ex 20:1-6; 34:14; 2Ki 17:36; Mt 4:10; Ac 10:25-26).
Not even angels are to be worshipped (Rev. 22:8-9).
Jesus Christ is to be worshipped (Mt 2:11; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 18:26; 20:20; 28:9,17; Ph. 2:9-11; Heb. 1:6).
Worship is in vain if based on the traditions of man instead of the Word of God (Mt. 15:9; Mk. 7:7).
Worship must be in Spirit and in truth (Joh 4:24; Ph. 3:3).
The world will one day worship the devil and his Antichrist (Rev. 13:4,8,12,15).

V. They gave gifts
A. Gifts for the child Jesus. From this visit of the magi has grown up our idea of keeping Christmas with gifts. We will try to see the inner meaning of the good old custom.
B. Give the best you have to Jesus: — It matters not how poor the offering be, if it is the best, you can give

Our chief idea in keeping Christmas is to make everybody happy. Jesus came to make us all happy — blessed of God.
Making everybody happy can be done best by giving gifts. All sorts needed — should be adapted — make everybody happy because they bless both him who gives and him who takes.
In giving gifts we remember especially the little ones. Because we think of Jesus as a child, etc. Show how suggestive are the magi’s gifts.
Then we rise beyond the little ones to all those whom Jesus taught us to think of as His brethren. Those who are poorer than ourselves, etc. Every child may make somebody a little happier with their love-gift to-day.

C. Gifts

Frankincense -A fragrant resin obtained from certain trees (Isa 60:6; Jer 6:20). In the O.T. sacrifices, the frankincense represents devotion to God, symbolizing that which belongs wholly to God. In the Christian life it would picture the believer’s devotion to God.
Myrrh – A fragrant, valuable gum resin which ranked among the chief spices and fragrances (Song 4:13-14). It was used as a perfume in romance (Pr 7:17; Song 3:6; 5:5,13). It was used in the holy anointing oil (Ex 30:23), in the beautification of queens (Es 2:12), and in Christ’s burial (Joh 19:39). Myrrh was one of the gifts offered to the infant Christ by the wise men (Mt 2:11).
Gold – representing royalty

VI. Conclusion:
Be like the wise men. Seek Jesus now while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Will you do it my friend? It’s the best decision that you would never regret.