Advent | The Worship of The King

We are today going to continue this journey through Advent.

So we started the sermon series of Matthew a couple of weeks

ago. The series lines up well with

Advent. I've told you guys that there's

kind of different movements throughout Matthew's gospel.

It's a little kind of little miniseries within the larger

series of Matthew as we go through this.

So we started Advent last week. This is Week 2 of Advent.

There's themes with advents. There's hope, joy, peace and

love or love and peace depending on how you organize them.

And so we're we preached hope last week, preaching joy this

week. Title of the sermon is the

worship of the king, the worship of the kings.

We're going to look at the story of the Magi who come to worship

Christ on after he was born. And so the story of the king in

Matthew, Matthew is laying out for us the story of the king and

his Kingdom, right? And he's showing us these

things. What we're seeing an advent is

that through the story of the king who has come, we will also

see the king who is coming again, right?

A second advent to come, one that we await, we hope for, we

know is in our future at some point, where Christ will descend

as the Lord of Lords and King of kings.

He'll be a lion rather than a lamb who was slain.

He'll come as a lion and, you know, figuratively, but he'll

come to establish the new heavens and the new earth and

all that goes with that, right? And he's doing this work

presently through his word as it's being preached and taught.

He's doing this work through his people as they go and live lives

for the glory of the Lord as they are, as they are people of

his Kingdom. And he's doing this through the

work of all those things, right? So he's working.

He's working through his people, through his word.

He's working in other ways. And so last week we rejoiced

that Jesus is the Savior King who rescues us from our sins.

Today Matthew draws our hearts toward the Advent theme of joy,

which is when we think of joy, we don't want to think of a

momentary cheerfulness. You don't want to think even

just of a seasonal like sentiments that it's Christmas

season. And so our hearts are a little

bit more full of joy right now, right?

It's not just a seasonal sentiment when when we talk

about biblical joy, we're talking about deep soul filling

life, directing joy that flows from those who have met the true

king, those who know the king, right?

So the magi in the story today remind us that this joy is not

limited to one people, right? It's not limited to 1 nation.

It's not limited to 1 background.

These men as they come to worship Christ, we'll see.

They are Gentiles. What it means to be a Gentiles

that you are outside of Israel's heritage, right?

They're not Israelites, they're not Hebrews.

And yet when the promised king appears, these are the ones,

these Gentiles are the ones who seek him.

They're the ones who submit themselves to him.

They're the ones who rejoice in his coming.

All right? So their response illustrates a

call in our own lives, all right?

It illustrates our own call that we have from God.

And because the King has come not just for Israel, but for all

nations, including us, we too are called to seek him.

We're called to worship Him. We're called to submit to Him,

right? And so we're going to consider

that as we hear this word this morning.

But before we get into the preaching of the Word, just like

for you to stand in honor of the reading of God's Word, look at

Matthew chapter 2 verses one through 12 today.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

Matthew 2 one through 12. 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 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. When Herod the king heard this,

he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, and

assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he

inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They told him in Bethlehem of Judea.

For so it is written by the prophet.

And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, and by no are by no

means least among the rulers of Judah.

For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people

Israel. Then Herod some of the wise men

secretly and ascertained from them what what time the star had

appeared. 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.

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.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great

joy, and coming into the house they saw the child with Mary his

mother, and they fell down and worshipped him.

And opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and

frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not

to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by

another way. This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you

this morning for your word. We praise You for it, for by it

we come to know the God of heaven and earth.

By it we come to know Christ your Son, who was given as a

ransom for sinners. You sent him.

And to be born of, of Mary, to live a perfect life, to die a

sinner's death as one who had no sin himself, and to be raised to

life where he resides now through his ascension into

heaven. He resides with you and he rules

over all things. And Father, we thank you that we

have your word to know Christ and we have your word to know

salvation, that we have your word to teach us how to live

godly lives as people who have placed our faith in you.

And so, Lord, we ask for your help this morning.

We, we know that we are powerless to save ourselves.

We're powerless to sanctify ourselves.

We're powerless in so many ways. We are dependent wholly upon

Your grace. And so we ask that you would

show Your grace to us yet again today, that having seen Christ,

we would see the Father and Lord, that you would work on us

by your Spirit through your preached word today.

Ask these things in the name of Christ, our Lord.

Amen. Amen.

You may be seated. This might be true for you.

I think it's been true for me that joy is one of the most

pursued experiences in the world.

Have you noticed that before? Maybe you see it in others, but

the people are always seeking after joy.

It's also one of the hardest things to hold onto because you

live in a world that takes joy from you through the

difficulties of living in a fallen world, right?

There's temptations, there's sin, there's pain, there's

turmoil and strife, there's struggle, there's suffering,

there's death and tears. There's all manner of things

that we hear about that would rob us of our joy, right?

There's bad experiences that go along with good experiences that

there's all these things that seek to rob us of joy.

And yet so many people are seeking joy, right?

We often hear it in the in the phrase of do what makes you

happy, All right, That's it's the world's way of saying do

what brings you joy, whatever that is, whatever you think will

make you the happiest. Go do that.

All right, well, that's hedonism.

And often times Christians fall plague to this idea of hedonism.

It's still wired within us. It's it's in our flesh and we

struggle with it, right? We have wrong desires, we have

evil desires, we have sinful desires.

We seek our own way So often we don't want to submit to a king,

all right? We don't want to submit to a

Lord because the Lord might call us to do something that goes

against those desires that we cherish so deeply, all right?

And so joy is one of those things that's sought after by

everyone, and yet we find that it's also one of the hardest

things to hold onto, all right? So we chase joy in

relationships, all right, and we chase joy and achievements, all

right, We we chase joy and holidays and traditions.

We chase joy and comforts and security.

We chase joy in 1000, small pleasures that promised joy, but

so often fall short of giving us lasting joy.

All right, so, so we can feel joy for a moment, all right,

you, you can get a, a sense of this happiness for a moment,

this joy for a moment. And yet it leaks through your

fingers, right? Like you can take hold of it for

a moment and it's, it's like trying to hold on the water.

All right, it just it, it seeps through your fingers and you

find that it's elusive. All right, And so we try to

manufacture joy. You might manufacture joy

through medication. You may manufacture joy through

addiction. You may manufacture joy through

things that are good, right? Working out or eating well.

Like we try to manufacture joy in all manner of ways.

And yet what we find is the more we try to manufacture, the more

we chase it, the more elusive it is.

All right. Now, what I'm describing is the

book of Ecclesiastes. If you've read the book of

Ecclesiastes, you know what I'm saying.

What I'm saying, We find that that that everything is vanity

all right, that it appears good and yet it leaves us wanting.

Now why does it leave us wanting?

Well, Ecclesiastes answers that question pretty early on the

book. In chapter 3, verse 11, the the

preacher there, the writer there of Ecclesiastes, he says that

that God has put eternity, a sense of eternity into the heart

of every man. He's done so in such a way that

he cannot figure it out, all right.

They cannot obtain it. And so it's true that within

every person, saved or unsaved, there's this desire for things

that are otherworldly. There's this push for things

that go beyond us, that we know and recognize are eternal, and

yet every one of us is limited and cannot obtain that on our

own. And you've probably heard this

described in some way as a child, that God has wired in you

this God sized hole that he has to feel.

It's not a great definition, but it's not an awful one either.

It's true. Like there's a sense in you

where you long for something greater, you long for something

eternal, and yet you can't grasp it.

But that doesn't stop you from trying.

And so the the text today comes to us as an answer comes to us

as a help, and Advent comes to us as a season within our

calendar that helps us consider these things, right?

Advent reminds us why joy is elusive, because joy is not

something we create. Joy is someone who came.

Joy is something that is given by God on high.

It's a gift from the Father, right?

Joy has a name, joy has a face. And joy has appeared in Jesus.

So when when he appeared, what we find in the text is that

people could not stay neutral. And this is often true in our

lives. When Christ appears in our

lives, we cannot stay neutral, right?

We cannot remain unchanged, right?

Some sought him with longing, as the Magi do, as the wise men do

here. Some opposed him with hostility,

as Herod does here, and the people of Jerusalem do as well.

Many ignored him out of indifference, right?

This, this can't be the king. And so they ignore him.

But no one truly saw. No one who truly saw Jesus

remained unchanged. Right?

That the birth of Christ demands a response.

And his appearing reveals the deepest desires of our hearts.

It exposes what we treasure. It exposes whom we worship.

We are laid bare before God. And so that is what Matthew

shows us through the wise men, through the magi here.

These men are outsiders. They are unexpected, right?

They're they're not the ones that you think would run to

worship Christ first or travel hundreds of miles to worship

Christ first. They are not the ones we would

assume would recognize Israel's Messiah because they're not

Israelites, right? Yet they come and they become

the first picture in Matthew's gospel of what it looks like to

respond rightly to the king who has come, or the first picture

of this for us. And we said last week that

Matthew chapter 1 lays out for us a king who has come to govern

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

a people from every nation, right?

And it's not a coincidence that Matthew ends his Gospel in

chapter 28 with the Great Commission to go into all the

world and proclaim the Gospel, right?

Why? Because Christ means to be Lord

of a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

He means to satisfy the joy longing in a people from every

tribe, tongue and nation. He means to be worshipped by a

people from every tribe, tongue and nation.

And so their actions preach a message to us, right?

If you're taking notes in the worship guide, you can just fill

in the blanks if you'd like. But the main point of the text

today is this. Since Jesus has come as King for

all nations, we are called to seek him, submit to him, and

worship him. Since Jesus has come as a king

for all nations, we are called to seek him, submit to him, and

worship him. Sorry, rejoice in him.

Yes, rejoicing is also worship. This passage unfolds in these

three movements that show us how this joy comes to us, how it can

be received. We see how it's threatened.

We also see how it's deepened. But first we're going to see the

joy in the kings appearing. Then we'll see joy threatened by

a rival king, and then we'll see joy overflowing in worship or

rejoicing. All right, so we're going to

look at each one of these. First, joy in the kings

appearing verses one and two. I'll reread those just so we're

familiar. 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 saying, Where is he

who was born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it

rose, and have come to worship him.

Now Matthew begins this section by introducing us to the Magi.

Now, these wise men are likely learned men from Persia or

Babylon. The the word magi is used for

scholars, astronomers, or wise men who are attached to Royal

Courts. What we do know about them is

they're not kings, all right? They're they're, they were

certainly not Israelites. And yet Matthew brings them

front and center in the story of Jesus's birth.

So already Matthew is proclaiming a truth that will

echo throughout his Gospel. Jesus is the promised king, not

merely for Israel, but for all nations.

Is the promised king for all nations.

So Matthew tells us that the Magi come from the east and they

arrive in Jerusalem and ask where is he who has been born

king of the Jews? Another question really is

extraordinary. They've not come to ask if a

king has been born. They assume it.

They know that it's happened. They have not come to check the

scriptures. They simply want direction to

where this king can be found. Another question reveals 3

things. One, they already believe a king

has come, right? They come knowing that a king

has been born. Where is he who has been born

king of the Jews? Now, you can imagine a perplexed

look on King Herod's face as he hears this.

Imagine I also believe that he is worthy of worship.

Where is he who's been born of king of the Jews?

We have come to worship him again.

King Herod's going to take that as a shot in the heart.

All right. You should come worship me.

And yet we've come to worship another king who Herod has no

idea exists at the moment. 3rd, they believe that he is king.

He's he's king not only over the Jews, but over them as well.

They've come to worship him. The text does not say they came

to observe him. It does not say they came to

study him. It doesn't say they came to

congratulate him, Right. It it says they came to worship

him. Now Matthew is placing before us

a really stark contrast. The Gentile world is eager to

worship Israel's king, while Israel's own leaders remain

unmoved. So the phrase born king of the

Jews is also significant. You see, Herod was appointed

king by Rome, but Jesus is born king by divine decree.

All right. His kingship is not political,

it's Messianic. He's he's the Christ, and he's

the one who's come to save his people from their sins.

His kingship was not granted by Caesar, it was established by

God. Ephesians 26 and seven, which

is, I'm sorry, Psalms 26 and seven, which is somewhat

prophetic, says this says, As for me, I have set my king on

Zion, my holy heel. I will tell of the decree.

The Lord said to me, You are my son today I have begotten you.

You see that a king has been born, a king has been given by

divine decree. He's established by God himself.

The star they saw is a matter of much discussion, right?

You've likely heard a lot of this through the years.

But Matthews focus is not on astronomy, right?

He's not looking. He's not looking to make an

astronomical argument. His point here is theological.

As one commentator notes, the star is a sign not of human

insight, but of divine initiative.

God is leading Gentile worshippers to His Son through

the appearing of the star. Now this fulfills Old Testament

prophecies like Numbers 2417 which says a star shall come out

of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.

Isaiah 60 mentions in verses one through 6.

It mentions that the nations will come to the light.

Kings will bring gifts. Psalm 7210 through 11 May.

The kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tributes.

Let all kings fall down before him.

Let all nations serve him. All right.

So Matthew Henry notes on this. He says those who live a great

way off from Christ may yet come to him if God draws them.

Praise God. Everyone of us can say Amen to

that. We all, as believers, once

dwelled in the distant land, so to speak, far off from Christ.

And yet all may come if God draws them.

Should God draw them, they will come, right?

And that's exactly what's happening here.

The Magi travel hundreds of miles because God is revealing

his Son to the nations. John MacArthur also notes he

says the Magi are the firstfruits of the Gentiles who

would come to worship the Messiah.

The King born in Bethlehem is the king of the world.

Amen. So a couple of things we want to

notice. Jesus is being set out here or

laid out for us here in Matthew chapter 2 as the universal King.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

He, he's the King of the world, right?

He's the King of everything. He is born a babe in a Manger,

but he comes as the King of all. The very first worshippers of

Matthew's gospel are Gentiles. It's a stunning declaration at

the beginning of the New Testament, All right, This is

the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, where

he told Abraham in you all the families of the earth shall be

blessed. And we saw this a couple of

weeks ago that Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham,

right? So joy.

We also see here that joy begins with seeking the king.

I think this is kind of the thrust of the message today.

Joy begins with seeking the king, the Magi model, a truth

that will become clear throughout Matthew, and that's

this. Finding true joy begins with

responding to God's revelation. Now I told you earlier that

everyone on the earth is a joy seeker.

They're pleasure seekers right now.

Romans 1 confirms this for us and that God has revealed

himself in creation as an all powerful God.

He's revealed himself in ways that no one can deny.

And yet we see in Romans one that it is the work of sinful

man to worship creation rather than the Creator.

Well, what are they doing in worshiping creation?

They're seeking their own joy in the things God has created

rather than in the God who creates.

I'll stand here and say I am guilty of this often.

Trying to find joy in the things that God gives rather than in

God himself doesn't mean that these things aren't for a joy.

They are. But worship must roll up from

the created thing to the God who creates.

That's where true joy is found. We also see in Romans one that

as we have become creation worshippers, exchanging the

worship of God for the worship of creation, we are now guilty

also of suppressing the truth, right?

We're guilty of pushing truth down.

We don't want to acknowledge the revelation of God that He has

given to us. Rather, we would rather push

that down and worship creation instead.

If you haven't read Romans one before, or if you haven't read

it in a while, I encourage you to read it not while I'm

preaching, but later. And make note one of the ways

you see in your own heart that you're guilty of suppressing

truth and worshipping creation. But make Note 2 of how you see

it all around you in the world that you live in.

It's so prevalent. But Jesus will later say in

Matthew 7, if you seek me, you will find me.

So one of the purposes of Christ's coming, John 1 reveals

this so clearly for us is that we might see Jesus.

And having seen Jesus, we may see the Father all right.

We may see his, the, the glory of the Father revealed to us

that we might become children of God, that we can exchange

creator or creation worship for creator worship.

All right, we should be seeking Jesus.

This is where joy is found. All right, I don't care if it's

a marriage struggle. I don't care if it's a parenting

issue. I don't care if it's financial

stress. I don't care if it's sin and

temptation, problems in your own heart, what whatever it may be,

joy is found in seeking Christ amidst all those things, in the

middle of all those things, putting Christ 1st and letting

him govern your life. That's where Joy's found.

We also see here that God takes the initiative and drawing

sinners. Before the magi ever moved, a

step, before they ever set on on a journey, God placed a sign in

the heavens for them. It reinforces the truth of

Scripture that salvation always begins with God.

Christ is not found through human brilliance.

These are wise men, after all. Christ is found through divine

revelation only. So we find Christ.

It's through revelation, through God's revelation for us, right?

Spurgeon said this. He said we are not the seekers,

we are the sought. We're the ones that God has

sought. So since Jesus has come as King

for all nations, we must seek him.

Brothers and sisters, Advent, joy does not grow in the soil of

distraction or indifference. That's a bad soil.

You will not grow joy in the soil of distraction and

indifference. You must become focused and you

must become aggressive, active, not passive, not indifferent.

Joy appears when we respond to God's gracious revelation of His

Son for us. So some reflective questions

that should come to mind as we read this passage.

Am I seeking God daily in his Word?

You might say well I don't have a star in the heavens.

I don't have this, you know, clear divine revelation like the

Magi had. You may make every excuse in the

world, but but you are not called to be a sign seeker,

brother and sister. You're you're called to be the

kind of people who read and know the Word of God where He has

given us divine revelation of Himself.

You don't need a star in the heavens when you have the

scriptures in your hands or on your shelf at home.

We have all that we need. Another question should come to

mind. Are we meditating on the truths

of His Word? Are we thinking deeply about

what God has revealed to us? Do we turn them into prayers?

Do we turn them into thoughts of our day?

Do we let them influence the actions of our hands, the

thoughts of our minds, the words of our mouth?

Meditate on the scriptures, Think on them, Mull over them,

ride them out, turn them into prayers.

Another question, are we coming to Him in prayer with

expectancy? Do you come to Him in prayer at

all? Do you come frequently to

prayer? Do you seek the Lord, having

read His word, letting it inform your prayers, and now respond to

God in praying? Another question, are we

positioning our hearts to see Him, to hear Him, to worship

him? Well, I would say the answer is

yes. For all of you that are sitting

in here today, the gathering of the Saints is one place we can

expect to see God, to hear God, and to worship God well.

What about the rest of the week? What actions are you taking?

What steps are you taking to position your heart before God?

The Magi give us a picture of faith in motion.

It's it's faith in action. It's joy that begins by

following God's light, however small that light may seem right.

Their their journey reminds us that joy is not found in

circumstances. Joy is found in beholding the

King who has appeared. Joy is found in responding to

Christ with humble, eager, Worshipful pursuits.

That's where we find joy. So the magi revealed that joy,

this joy that springs from God's gracious revelation.

Or, sorry, the magi revealed the joy that springs from God's

gracious revelation. But joy is never, ever, ever

without opposition because the reign of Christ exposes every

competing throne. Matthew turns our attention from

joyful seekers to a fearful ruler in the next verses.

Here we see joy threatened by a rival king.

You might say that it's a rival king who is threatened by joy.

Look at verses 3 through 8. When Herod the king heard this,

he was troubled in all Jerusalem with him.

And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the

people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

And they told him in Bethlehem of Judea.

For so it is written by the prophet.

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, inherit some of the wise

men secretly, and ascertained from them what time the star had

appeared. 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. Does that sound sincere?

If you know the story, you know it's not.

So if the magi reveal the joy that comes to those who seek the

true King, then Herod here is revealing the opposite.

He reveals for us the fear, the hostility, the deception that

arises when sinful hearts resist the authority of Christ.

And so Matthew again is drawing the sharp contrast.

The same news that causes the Magi to rejoice we see here.

It troubles Herod deeply. Matthew tells us that when Herod

the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem

troubled with him. The word troubled here means

shaken. It means that you're agitated.

It means you're disturbed. So Herod was a man obsessed

withholding on the power. Historically, we know this.

He, he murdered members of his own family to protect his

throne. He, he was a puppet king who was

appointed by Rome. He was not born into David's

line. And so when the Magi speak of a

child born king of the Jews, Herod senses now a direct threat

that needs to be exterminated, right.

Herod is troubled because the true king has appeared, but

Jerusalem is troubled as well because they know Herod's

violent instability. So instead of rejoicing at the

fulfillment of prophecy as they should have done, the city

braces now for what Herod might do in response to this news.

So Herod summons together the chief priest.

He summons together the scribes. These are the very people who

knew the Scriptures, and he asked them where the Christ was

to be born. They quote Micah 52 accurately.

The Messiah will come from Bethlehem.

Yet strikingly, strikingly, they don't go.

The scribes and the high priest don't go to see the promised

birth of the King. They know the truth, but their

hearts are unmoved. And so Herod responds with

hostile deceit. The religious leaders this

respond with this cold indifference, probably fearing

for their lives. John MacArthur notes this.

He says Herod's reaction represents a world that would

rather destroy Christ than submit to him.

And the religious leaders represent those who know the

truth but refuse to act on it. So Herod embodies for us the

rebellion of fallen humanity, right?

Herod is not simply a villain. Brothers and sisters, we, we, we

can't look at Herod and think, man, what a troubled man he was.

What a, what a despicable man he was, what an evil man he was.

We can't simply think that, though that's true.

We need to also understand that He is a picture of every Sinner

who refuses Christ's rightful rule.

Psalm 2 describes the nation's raging against the Lord and His

anointed. Herod is one of the first in the

New Testament to embody that rebellion so clearly.

We also see here that knowledge without obedience.

Knowledge without obedience produces no joy, right?

The chief priests, the scribes, they have the scriptures, but

they do not have the Savior, right?

They can quote prophecy, yet they feel no urgency themselves

to seek Christ, as James remind us.

The book of James in chapter 1 reminds us the word must be

received with meekness and then acted upon.

We are not to be hearers of the word only, we are to be doers of

the word. Spurgeon remarked this, he said

it is a sad thing when those who are nearest to the means of

grace are often the slowest to receive it.

Another thing we see here is that Christ kingship exposes

every competing throne. Herod is troubled because

Christ's arrival threatens his self-made Kingdom.

When is my heart threatened because I want to impose myself

made Kingdom? That's far more often than I

wish ever. So I want you to understand,

brothers and sisters, that joy dies wherever self rule is

cherished more than Christ rule. Your joy dies when you cherish

the ruling of your own heart. Rather than yielding your life

to Christ. The human heart naturally wants

to enthrone itself. Christ appearing, confronts

that. It has to.

Since Jesus has come as king for all nations, we see here that we

must submit to Him. Joy is threatened whenever we

attempt to maintain control over our lives apart from Christ.

Well, this is one reason we'll get there, you know, in a few

months. But in Matthew 6, when Jesus

teaches us how to pray, this is your Kingdom come.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

How often are we praying? God, your Kingdom come.

Let your Kingdom rule my heart, rule my life, rule my mind, rule

my emotions, rule my actions, my words.

Let your Kingdom come and rule me.

Let my Kingdom pass away. Herod shows us the danger of

hostility, that is resisting the king because his authority

challenges ours. But the religious leaders show

us the danger of indifference, which is those moments where we

know the truth but we refuse to act on it.

Both of those kill joy. Hostility to God, indifference

to God. Those things kill your joy.

And so Advent invites us to examine the rival kings in our

own hearts. All right.

What areas of our lives do we refuse to surrender?

About your physical health? What?

What about your spiritual health?

What about your emotions? Your mind?

What areas of your life are you refusing to surrender to God?

Where? Where do we resist the authority

of Christ? Where?

Where do we find that we have a rival king in our own heart

because we're resisting the authority of God or Christ in

our lives? Is it in your desires?

Your aspirations? Is it in your homes?

It is in your work, of your devotional life.

A 1000 questions can be asked. You just have to ask yourself,

where in my heart am I resisting the authority of Christ?

Another good question. Where have we settled for

knowledge without obedience? Where have we settled for just

having an understanding of God and not putting it to action,

not putting it to work, not obeying Him right?

Is your head full but your heart far?

We want to be careful not to become the kinds of Christians

who have full heads and faraway hearts.

You see, joy, true joy, cannot exist with a self protected

throne. Joy grows only when we lay down

our crowns at the feet of Christ.

But while Herod and the religious leaders show us how

joy is threatened, Matthew now turns our attention back to the

Magi to show us how joy is restored and strengthened.

It's not in resisting the king, rather it's in worshipping the

King. And so their response provides

this beautiful picture of joy overflowing in the presence of

Christ. Point #3 joy overflowing in

worship. Look at verses 9 through 12.

Again. 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. When they saw the star, they

rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, and going into the house

they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and

worshipped him. Then opening their treasures,

they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they

departed to their own country by another way.

So what unfolds in verses 9 through 12 is one of the most

beautiful pictures of joyful worship in all of Scripture.

The the the contrast with Herod and with those religious leaders

could not be sharper. Herod trembles in fear.

The wise men rejoice exceedingly with great joy.

Herod plots to destroy, and the wise men bow down to a door.

Herod clings to a crumbling throne, and the wise men gladly

surrender before the eternal King.

So Matthew tells us that they're that after their meeting with

Herod, they once again see the star that had gone before them,

and this time it came to rest over the place where the child

was. Now the wording here obviously

suggests divine guidance. It's not mere astronomical

phenomenons, right? God is directing worshippers to

his Son. And then Matthew piles up joy

language in verse 10. They rejoiced exceedingly with

great joy. They rejoiced exceedingly with

great joy. What we see here is joy

intensified. We we see joy multiplied.

It's compounded, right? One commentator calls it super

abundant joy. It's a joy that cannot be

contained. And what does such joy produce

in these men? One, we see that joy bows before

the king. Verse 11 says they fell down and

worshipped him. The Greek phrase that's used

there describes physically lowering oneself in reverence

before a superior understand what's happening.

These are dignified men. They're educated, respected,

likely very wealthy, and now they're lying prostate on the

ground before a young child. They're not worshiping Mary.

They're not worshiping Joseph. They worship him.

The text says they worship Jesus, the Son of God, the true

King. Matthew Henry writes.

He says though those who truly know Christ will adore him, joy

in him will soon bring us to our knees before him.

And Spurgeon adds this. He says a glimpse of Jesus

humbles us, but it is a happy humility.

We cast ourselves at his feet with delighted reverence.

Amen. Second thing we see about joy

here is that it gives generously to the King.

The magi open their treasures and they present gifts.

Gold and frankincense and murder.

No, I want you to understand these gifts are not random.

They reflect who Jesus is and what he came to do.

Gold is given because it's a gift for a king.

Jesus is the king. Frankincense was used in

priestly worship. Jesus is the great high Priest.

Myrrh was often associated with suffering and burial.

Because Jesus, our great High Priest, is going to enter the

Holy of Holies through his own death.

So already in infancy, Jesus is revealed as the King, as the

priest, and as the one who will suffer and die for his people.

Their their gifts are costly, but they bring what's precious.

They bring what matters. Joy expresses itself in

sacrificial giving to the one who is worthy, John MacArthur

notes. Their gifts symbolize the

recognition of his sovereign, divine and sacrificial roles.

True worship, he says, is always marked by costly devotion. 3rd,

we see that joy obeys God's direction.

Finally there in verse 12, God warns them in a dream not to

return to Herod, and it says they departed to their own

country by another way their their encounter with Jesus

literally changes their direction.

This is not incidental. Worship that springs from joy

always leads to transform the living, as Jesus himself will

later say, If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 1415 True joy, True joy in the Lord produces obedience to

the Lord. We don't see obedience as this

cold duty. We see this glad submission,

happy hearted, joyous submission to the Lord.

You see, worship is the fruit of joy in Christ.

The magi don't fall down and worship Him because they must.

They worship Him because their hearts are overflowing with joy

at what God has done. Worship is also God initiated,

but we believe this here. This is why we start every

worship service with a call to worship, with a reading of

Scripture that reminds us that God is drawing us to worship

him. All right, we're coming as a

response to what God has done every single Lord's Day.

All right, God draws them, God leads them, God warns them.

Salvation and worship are always responses to God's gracious

initiative. John 644 says no one comes to

me, this is Christ speaking. No one comes to me unless the

Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the

last day. We also see here that worship of

Christ fulfills God's plan for the nations.

There's great passages in your Bible like Isaiah 60, Psalm 72,

the Abrahamic promise in Genesis 12.

All of these are converging in these Gentile worshippers.

They are the first fruits of the nations who will one day gather

before the Lamb. Revelation 79 and 10.

After this I looked, and behold, this is John the Revelator

speaking. After this I looked, and behold

a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation,

from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the

throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with

palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud

voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and

to the Lamb. What a day of rejoicing and

worship that will be. So, brothers and sisters, I hope

it's clear that since Jesus has come as King for all nations, we

must rejoice in him. All right, some of you don't

walk around with a smile on your face.

Nearly enough. King of all Kings has split

heaven open, and he's come down to rescue you from your sins, to

set his seal of the Spirit upon you, to save you from eternal

damnation, and to call you his own son or daughter.

And we'll walk around grumbling. We'll walk around often

frustrated. We'll walk around thinking I

have nothing to delight and nothing to smile about.

Brothers, sisters, I just want you to see today that you have

so much, so much to be joyous about.

Come to the King with hearts that rejoice today.

Joy is not a fleeting holiday emotion.

The lights and the trees, the decorations, all these things,

they're beautiful and they do make my heart cheery.

The songs, the sounds of Christmas make me smile.

They do. I enjoy it.

All the traditions from a child to now where I'm raising my own

children, all of it makes me joyous.

But but none of those things are about those things.

They're all about the Christ we worship, the work of God in our

lives, right? So joy is not a fleeting holiday

emotion. It's the settled gladness of a

heart that knows Christ, and it gladly bows to him.

Joy expresses itself in humble worship.

We bow before Christ and surrender and reverence.

Joy expresses itself in generous giving.

We offer our treasures, our time, our talents, our whole

lives for the glory of Christ. Joy expresses itself in glad

obedience. We will walk in whatever

direction God commands, even if it is another way than what we

expected. That's a tough one.

But joy gets us to that spot. I want you to understand it that

the joyless worship is not biblical worship.

God means for you to enjoy Him. Real joy leads us to come before

Christ with open hands, with open hearts, and with open

obedience. The Magi here show us what

happens when joy meets the true King.

We see their humility bowing before the child and worship.

We see their generosity and the gifts that they bring.

We see their obedience and that they listen to the Lord in a

dream and went another way and we see their worship.

I said we have come to worship him.

You see, Matthew gathers all these threads together to show

you the larger reality behind their journey.

This joy is not just for them. This isn't a story you're meant

to read and think, oh that's sweet, what a beautiful picture

of this. This story is here so that you

will see that Christ is for the nations, that Christ has called

you to worship him in the same way.

This truth, this story is for us today.

Matthew wants us to see something astonishing.

The first worshippers of Jesus and his gospel are Gentiles, and

he's writing to a Jewish audience.

The first worshippers of Jesus and Matthew's gospel are

outsiders. They're strangers to the

covenants of promise, and yet they are drawn in by the grace

of God. They're awakened by the

appearing of the true King and they're filled with joy that

cannot be contained. You see, the Magi stand as a

living testimony to what God is doing in Christ.

He is gathering a people from every nation who will bow before

Him and His Son with joy. They sought Him, they submitted

to Him, they rejoiced in Him and church.

That is the call on our lives as well, that since Jesus has come

as King for all nations, we are called to seek Him, submit to

Him, and rejoice in Him. You see, this is the heart of

Advent joy. It's not sentimental feeling.

It's not temporary emotional lift.

It's not a warm holiday memory. It's a deep, durable spiritual

joy that takes root in the soul because it is rooted in the King

Himself. We have joy in His appearing

because God has kept his promises.

We have joy even when joy is threatened, because there is no

rival king that can overturn his rule.

And we have joy that overflows in worship because Christ is

worthy of our humility. He's worthy of our generosity.

He's worthy of our obedience. He's worthy of our very lives.

Brothers and sisters, those of you who have called on the name

of the Lord and faith, I want you to know, I want you to be

aware that the world offers 1000 lesser joys, joys that fade,

joys that fail, joys that cannot sustain A weary soul.

But Christ offers you a joy that is full and forever, a joy that

leads to worship, a joy that bends the knees and lifts the

heart, a joy that steadies us in suffering and anchors us in

hope. So this Advent, I implore you, I

beg of you, seek Christ. Turn from every rival king in

your own heart. Bow before him and glad

surrender. Open your treasures before him.

Offer him your very life, but the joy of the nations become

the joy of your own hearts. Let your worship rise from a

soul captivated by Christ, and let your life become an offering

of joyful obedience to the King who has come and will come

again. This is why we're gathering for

a hymn sing on the square, by the way.

It's to worship the King of Kings.

It's to praise the Lord of Lords.

It's to exalt Christ in little old Magnolia, AR.

It's not about being seen by others.

It's wanting to make Christ seen in the beauty of His people,

worshipping Him with full glad hearts.

So if you haven't made plans to come yet, you better do it.

If you're an unbeliever, you don't know Christ.

You haven't yet placed your faith in him.

You haven't followed him in baptism.

I I want you to know that this joy does not belong to everyone.

There is no joy in Herod's heart.

There's only fear. There is no joy in the chief

priest. There's only indifference, and

this remains true today. That joy is found only by those

who come to Christ in repentance and faith.

So, so let me speak gently and plainly to anyone here who does

not yet know this King. You cannot find lasting joy

apart from Christ. You You may search for it in

success, you may search for it in relationships or pleasure or

family or holiday sentiments, but none of those things can

carry the weight of your soul. Every other joy fades, every

other joy fails. Every other joy ends at the

grave. But Jesus came for sinners, for

people like us, for people like me and many of those sitting

around you. Jesus came for sinners who have

rebelled against God and tried to build their own kingdoms.

He came not only as a child, He came as a Redeemer.

He lived without sin. He died on the cross to pay the

debt of our that our sins so rightly deserve.

And he rose again in victory, and he now offers forgiveness

and eternal life and everlasting joy to all who come to him, and

humble faith. So if you are far from God

today, I want you to hear this clearly.

Christ came for the far off. If you feel unworthy, I want you

to know that the unworthy are the only ones who come.

If you feel empty, I want you to know that He alone feels your

soul. If you feel ashamed of your

sins, your wrongdoings, your past, maybe your present, I want

you to know that the cross is more than enough to cleanse you.

If you feel lost, without direction, going your own way,

empty, I want you to know that Christ is the King who seeks and

saves you. See, the same Savior that drew

the magi, drew the wise man is drawing you.

The same King who welcomed Gentiles welcomes you.

The same grace that led them to worship can lead you to worship

Him today. So come, all of you come.

Leave the rival kings behind. Lay down the burden of self

rule, turn your stern from your sin and trust in the one who

came to save. Bow before Jesus Christ and find

Him to be the joy that your heart was made for, and rejoice

with exceedingly great joy. For the King has appeared, and

he is worthy of your worship. He's worthy of your faith, He's

worthy of your life, He's worthy of your all.

Come and behold him. Come and worship him.

Come and rejoice in him. Jesus Christ our King, let me

pray for you. Heavenly Father, I thank you for

your word today. I thank you, Lord, that we have

seen Christ yet again in Matthew 2.

The Gospel of Matthew shows us a people who were far off, who saw

a king had been born and they came to worship him.

Father, we who are far off have seen in Christ a Savior.

You have graciously saved us from our sins, and so we have

come to worship You today. But Lord, we know that it's true

that in our own flesh we may suffer a feeling of rivalry.

Kings, we may have feelings of indifference.

And so, Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters and for my

own heart today that you would purge those things from us, that

You would cleanse us, that You had helped us to worship Christ

in spirit and in truth today. And Father, I pray for anyone

here who does not know You that they would hear the call of God

to come, that they return from their sins and place their faith

in Jesus today, find life in His name.

We thank you that You love us so dearly, that you speak to us so

clearly. I'm going to give you a moment

now there in your seat to seek the Lord.

Spend some time in prayer, search your own heart.

Look for rival kings, look for indifference.

See if there are things that are hindering you from worshipping

Christ more faithfully, more purely today.

Maybe after searching you find nothing.

Then give praise to God for Christ the King who rules and

reigns over your life, and worship him this morning.

And maybe you are far off unsaved.

Would you come to Christ today? Heavenly Father, we praise you

for your marvellous grace, your wondrous love, Your mercies

which renew every day. We thank You that you speak to

us directly through your word and says as it's come to bear on

our hearts today, we ask that you help us to respond in

obedience. Help us to worship you with joy

today. It's in the name of Christ I

pray. Amen.