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No, not one. Hymn number 236. Hymn number 236. No, not one. Sing it one more time. First time's up. There's not a friend. First time's up. Ready? Sing. There's not a friend like Elmo. No, not one. No, not one. God is free. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. Jesus knows all about us. He reveals all about us. He reveals all about us. He reveals all about us. There's not a friend like Elmo. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. Jesus knows all about us. He reveals all about us. He reveals all about us. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. No, not one. 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Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, in every heart. As we sing as I know Amen. First week's reading. Please open your Bibles to the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 2. For scripture we will only be reading verse 1 down to verse 11. Matthew chapter 2 verse 1 down to verse 11. Please say amen if you are there. Amen. Matthew chapter 2 verse 1. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, below there came wise men from the east Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For he has seen a star in the east, and art come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, Ruthaseth is written by the prophet. And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah. For out of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently for the young child, and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed, and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened the treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Bless the reading of God's Word. Let us pray. Lord God in Heaven, we thank you, Lord, for this day that you've given to us. I pray, Lord, that you would please bless, Lord, for this day. Give us good weather for our soul and fellowship later on. I pray, Lord, that you would please bless the preaching and the preaching of your word, Lord, this day. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, we're here in Matthew chapter 2, and we're not going to finish the entire chapter. We're going to finish basically half of it here today, because there's a lot of confusion about the wise men. And the name of the sermon is The Wise Men, okay? Now, point number one, we see the dedication of the wise men. When I say the dedication, I'm not saying like a baby dedication or a house dedication. I'm saying they themselves were dedicated or devoted, right? Very zealous to serve God. Notice what it says in verse 1. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For he hath seen his star in the east, and art come to worship him. Now if you just take this literally for what the Bible says here, they're coming with the purpose to worship Jesus Christ. These are people that are already saved, okay? There's a lot of confusion on this, and we're going to talk about that in a second. But firstly, let's just talk about when did this take place? Go to verse 11. Verse 11. And notice what it says in Matthew 2, verse 11. 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 on them gifts, gold and frankincense and mirror. So it says they were come into the house, and it says they saw the young child. Look, all of us inside of our head, we've got a picture of a nativity scene. That picture is not accurate, okay? And I get it. We've seen it a million times in our lives, but it says they came into the house, and what you're going to see many times in this chapter is young child. This is not the newborn Jesus Christ being visited in a manger. Next week I'm going to kind of go more in detail about that. It's going to be kind of outside of the scope of the sermon. I just want us to understand, this is not taking place right after Jesus is born. And if you're reading Matthew 2, you could certainly think that because, you know, it takes time to tie in the pieces. But it says come into the house, and it says he was a young child, okay? Now go to Luke 2. I'll show you one verse on this. And as I said, next week I'll kind of go into the details of that. Luke 2, verse 7. Luke 2, verse 7. And it says in Luke 2, verse 7, And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Okay? And this is what people think at this moment is when the wise men visited, but you actually do not see that. The wise men would visit actually a time period later on, and we're going to talk about that next week. But we see that when this is taking place is actually a time period after, not right when Jesus is born. Go back to Matthew 2. Matthew 2. Now what it says here about these wise men is these are wise men from the east. So we don't know the exact country, but we know they're coming from the eastern direction. Okay? And they're coming with the purpose to worship him. I think it's pretty obvious when you read Matthew 2, verse 2 that you're looking at people that are saved. Wouldn't you say that? They're coming to worship Jesus Christ. But you know, that's not actually what people say when they explain this story. I mean, if you were to look at Google or watch some documentary, they're going to say very bizarre and different things than what the Bible says here. And one of the common things people say is that these men were astrologers, that they worshiped stars. Right? And they'll say that they're following the stars, and it's like they're coming to worship Jesus. They're not worshiping the stars. But people say, well, this is actually astrologers, and they'll say that the correct translation is not wise men. They'll say it should say magi. Who's ever heard of the three magi before? Right? I mean, you hear magi a lot. Magi is spelled M-A-G-I. Can you think of another word that starts M-A-G-I? Magic. Magician. That's a big difference than wise men. Right? And I'm not going to go back to the Greek in this sermon, which is what they always do. I'll just say, in the verse itself, they're coming to worship Jesus Christ. Magicians aren't going to worship Jesus Christ. Sorcerers and astrologers are not going to worship Jesus Christ. I mean, if you met a magician or astrologer today, I guarantee you they're not worshiping Jesus. Unless they try to claim Jesus was a magician, which some people try to say. Right? And so this is the correct translation when it says wise men. Now, here's what it says about the biblical magi from this article. It says the biblical magi also referred to as the three wise men or three kings. It's like, okay, what is it? Is it magi? Is it wise men or kings? Okay, those are different things. By the way, the number three we have no idea about. It never says there's three. There's obviously three different gifts. Gold and frankincense and myrrh. How many were there? More than one. Men would imply that there's more than one. So anywhere from two to, I don't know, probably less than a million. But somewhere above the number two, we don't really know the number. We have no idea if it's three. And I'm not against, if you think it's three, that's fine. I mean, I have no idea. I don't think it's heresy or anything like that. But we don't really know the number. Now, as we're saying here in this article, we three kings. I personally, let me just say this. I love the song, We Three Kings of Orient Arm. It's just not correct, though. Right? I mean, they're not three kings. Because not only does the Bible never mention their kings, when they show up to King Herod, it's kind of obvious who the king is and who's not kings. Right? It's kind of obvious who has the power. So we don't know that much about these men. But I'm telling you, they're not kings. They're certainly not sorcerers. They're certainly not astrologers. You say, what do you think they are? Wise men. Isn't that what the Bible says? They're wise men. Right? And it says, also referred to as the three wise men or three kings, also the three magi were distinguished foreigners in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition. They are said to have visited Jesus after his birth bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the ativity celebrations of Christmas, and are an important part of Christian tradition. Now, when it comes to these men, which we don't know whether or not there was three or there was more or whatever, you say, what's a big problem with using the word magi? Number one, that's close to magician and magic. It's the same root that's being used. And in our modern day, you know what, in the English language, if you say magi, what you're talking about is people of Persian descent that took care of the temples. You're talking about a Zoroastrian priest when you use the term magi because that's the term. And so you look online, people are going to say, these are three Zoroastrian priests coming to Jesus. Zoroastrians don't believe on Jesus Christ. Right? So why would they be coming to worship Jesus Christ? In fact, I preached against the most famous Zoroastrian in the last sermon. Freddie Mercury was a Zoroastrian. Look, they don't believe on Jesus. I remember several years ago, I knocked on a door in Sacramento, California. This girl answers the door, and I remember I said, hey, I just want to invite you to church. You go to church anywhere. She's like, no, I'm part of the world's oldest religion. I said, what religion is that? She's like, Zoroastrianism. I was like, Zoro what? And then she said, because I'd never heard of it before. I was like, let me write that down. I'd never heard of this Zoroastrianism. Look, they don't believe on Jesus. They don't think Jesus is the Son of God. They don't think he's the Messiah. They don't think he's the Christ. So what sins would it make for three people of a false religion to come worship Jesus? That's ludicrous. And when you're reading Matthew 2, and you're not going back to the Greek, and you're not watching documentaries, you're going to read this and see, this is a group of saved people, saved men, coming to worship Jesus. That's all you're going to walk away and think. You're not going to think that there are magicians or sorcerers or Zoroastrian priests or kings or anything like that. You're going to say, well, you know what? Just save people. I read online this week that in some Spanish translations, they say, kingly magicians. What is a kingly magician? It's like, these are just wise men, saved people. And look, I'm glad that we can trust our King James Bible. And when we read something, we don't have to stop and say, well, wait a minute. Is this a good translation? No, I mean, wise men is a good translation. That's what the Bible says. We believe it. These are wise men. Right? Now turn your Bible to Daniel 5. Daniel 5. By the way, sorcerers deserve the death penalty according to the Bible. They're coming to worship Jesus? I mean, that doesn't make any sense. But let me say this. I think I understand the confusion. And I know no Greek, so I'm not trying to outstep my bounds and act like an expert in a language I don't know. But here's the thing. Wise men in the Bible can be good or bad. In the English language, if you say magi, there is no good connotation of the word magi in English. Now, it's possible that in the original language a word could be used and it could be good or bad. Like, wise men are good or bad in the Bible. But in the English language, you can't say magi because that's just bad. That you're thinking of either magicians or Zoroastrian priests. That is the connotation in the English language. There is no good connotation for magi in English. Wise men in the Bible, though, they can be good or bad. Notice what it says in Daniel 5, verse 15. And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me. Now, when it says the wise men is linked with the astrologers, is this good or bad? Bad. These are bad people. They're part of a false religion. I mean, in the days of Moses, he performs these miracles. And what does Pharaoh do? He brings out his sorcerers, says his magicians, and then they're able to do a lot of the same things. They're not able to undo what God does, but they're able to add to the problem, right? In many cases, at least. And so, wise men in the Bible are not always good. In fact, they're often bad because wise by whose standards? By God's standards or the world's standards. So, in ancient Egypt, what do we consider a wise man? Someone who's a magician. Someone who's a sorcerer. In Zoroastrian faith, in the Persian religion, who's a wise man? I mean, someone that can perform magic. That gets in touch with those spirits, right? In Daniel 5, what are we seeing? Well, we're seeing wise men in a bad way. I mean, the astrologers. Now, here's the thing. As a Bible-believing Christian, would I look at these people and think they're wise? Do we think leaders of false religions are wise people? Absolutely not. But by the world's standards, they would look at that and say, hey, these are very wise people. Look at them, right? So, wise men in the Bible is not always good. It's certainly bad sometimes. And in Daniel 5, the wise men, the astrologers, these are people of false religion. These are people that are reprobate concerning the faith. These are very, very bad people. We'll go to Daniel 12. Daniel 12. Daniel chapter 12. And, look, you can look at this phrase throughout the Bible. I'm just staying in Daniel for sake of being in the same book. But there's a very good reference to being wise in the book of Daniel. Notice what it says in Daniel 12, verse 3. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. Is this a good reference or a bad? It's a good reference. And it says, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. What does the Bible mean when it says turn many to righteousness? It's what we call soul winning. It's called he that win its souls is wise. Now, we don't know whether it's two men, three men, 20 men, or whatever. Here's what I do know. Those men were soul winners. Because a wise person biblically is someone that's a soul winner, someone that's serving God, someone that's doing right. So these men that came to worship Jesus Christ, they were soul winners. They're people that love God. Because he that win its souls is wise. And the wise men in Matthew 2 is definitely a good reference. Now, in Daniel 5, wise men is bad. In Exodus 7, wise is bad. Because it's by the world's standards of a false religion. But wise men can be good or bad in the Bible. Well, in Matthew 2, let's use some common sense. Are these sorcerers? No. They are told to follow the star, but it's not because they're astrologers. They don't worship the stars. Of course, who are they worshipping according to Matthew 2, verse 2? They're worshipping Jesus Christ. They understand that he is God, and they're coming to worship him. Go back to Matthew 2 in your Bible. Matthew 2. Now, as I said, we have no idea how many men there were. I mean, that kind of rises from the gold frankincense and mirror. And I get it. All of us have this image in our head about there being three of them, and I'm not against that. I mean, it's not like if you think it's three or four, it's a heresy either way. It doesn't really matter. I have that image also. I think of these three men that are visiting. We don't really know, though. But there's other people in some Christian traditions that teach there's twelve of them. Right? So let me read this to you. Isn't it interesting how religions form dogma on things the Bible never says? Right? But it says from this article that the widespread assumption of there being three wise men is based on the number of their gifts to the Savior. And that's true. That's where you get the number three. There are, however, many traditions indicating much larger numbers. For example, Armenians and Syrians believe that there are twelve wise men arriving in Jerusalem with a large retinue. And so in some of the orthodox religions, they teach that there's twelve, apparently. Okay? You say, Brother Stuckey, what do you think? I have no idea. What I'm saying is they're all soul winners. All of them love God. All of them are already saved. None of them are sorcerers. None of them are magicians. None of them are Zoroastrian priests. These are just saved people. And what I'm saying is magi is not another option for translation. It would be a false and wrong translation of that. The correct translation is just like the King James says, that they're wise men. Because it would make no sense to say the three magi that are worshipping Jesus. Magi don't worship Jesus. Magicians and Zoroastrian priests do not worship Jesus Christ. These are wise men because he that winneth souls is wise, however many that there were of them. Now, I will give you my opinion about something. In my opinion, besides being soul winners that love God, I would presume that they're single. You say, why, Brother Stuckey? Because it would be kind of hard to go on a journey like that and leave your family for a very long time. So what I would presume, in my opinion, is that you have golden frankincense and mirror. And I presume there's probably a lot of people, because this is not right after the birth of Jesus. So basically, the viral news in that day is, hey, the Messiah's been born and people are spreading it. And then, of course, they hear about it in the east. I presume there's a lot of people that love the Lord in the east and they're not able to visit, but people probably gave gifts to give to Jesus Christ. And there's a small group, probably, that were actually able to do it, but probably there's a lot of people that love God that heard about it. Now, the reason why I'd say that they're not kings is it just doesn't fit the context of Matthew 2. There's no indication they're kings. I think it would be very unlikely that you have three kings that are soul winners in the world at one time. They certainly seem to be underneath the authority of Herod, like they don't have that sort of power of prestige. I mean, there's just no indication, in my opinion, when you read this, that they're kings. I love the song, and I proved this yesterday because I closed with the song, We Three Kings of Orient Are. I'm just saying it's not really an accurate song when it says three kings, okay, in my opinion. If that's what you think, though, that's fine. If you think they're magicians, then I don't know what to tell you. That is just ridiculous. That's heresy. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I would assume these are soul winners. I mean, they are soul winners, people that love God. What I would assume is they're the ones that are actually able to make the journey. Now, here's the thing. When the Bible says gold, frankincense, and myrrh, this does not mean that it was like millions of dollars worth. Because I just learned this this past week that Pentecostal churches use this to teach, well, you've got to give your best to God. They brought gold and frankincense and myrrh. It doesn't say that they became millionaires as a result of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In fact, there's no indication after this story that they're rich, so if they did get millions of dollars worth, they obviously just kind of gave it all up. Gold could be like this amount of gold or it could be a lot of gold. We don't really know. The Bible doesn't give us any indication. You certainly could not use this passage to say, well, you know what? You've got to give lots of gold to God as a special offering or something like that. There's a lot of weird teachings here in Matthew 2 of things the Bible just doesn't say. We don't know how much gold. We don't know how many people. We just know that there's a group of people that love God. They're soul winners because the Bible says they're wise. They're giving up all. Here's the thing. If you live during this day, you live during this time period, and let's say you're a single guy, which I presume these people are single in my opinion, and it's like you've heard that Jesus Christ is born, it's like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Where it's like, hey, you know what? I don't have anything to tie me down right now. Maybe it will send me back financially, but I can visit Jesus Christ. And of course, these are men that are talked about throughout the rest of human history. So I think they made the right choice. But these are people that love God, and they are soul winners. Point number one, we see the dedication of the wise men. They are dedicated. They are devoted. Point number two, we see the demand of Herod. Verse three, when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Now, why would Herod be troubled? Because Herod is the king. And they're coming to worship him, and what they're hearing is, well, Jesus Christ is going to be the king. And of course, that's true. And here's the thing. If Herod knew the Bible a little bit better and understood these things, he would realize, well, don't worry, he's not going to be the king right now. Right? He's coming to be the savior. But Herod's thinking, oh, wait a minute, I want my family to have the bloodline. I want to pass it down to my kids. Somebody else is going to come and rule and reign. No, no, no. That's not acceptable. I'm the king. So he wants to know about them. Why? Because of the fact he wants to be the king. And he's going to try to put him to death because he doesn't want someone else to become the king. But it's not just him that's troubled. All Jerusalem with him is troubled also. Why would all Jerusalem be troubled? Go to Matthew 21. Matthew 21. I mean, it would seem like a good thing that the savior is born, right? So why is Jerusalem troubled? Matthew 21. This is a famous parable that we've looked at many times at our church. And in this parable, it's very obvious that the example being given is the fact that God the Father was sending various prophets, and they're being rejected by the nation of Israel, being rejected by the southern king of Judah, rejected over and over and over again. And he says, last of all, I'm going to send my son. They're going to reverence my son. Notice what it says in Matthew 21, verse 37. But last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying they will reverence my son, which symbolically is referring to God the Son. That God the Father says, lastly, I'm going to send God the Son. Now, here's the thing. You can't take this parable too literally to every single word, because obviously God the Father knows they're not going to respect my son. But what you're seeing is, let's say a man was very wealthy, and he's sending these servants, and they're getting beaten and killed by these other ones, and then all of a sudden he sends God the Son lastly. He sends his son lastly. Verse 38. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the Lord therefore that vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? So ask yourself this question. Let's say you own a business, and you've got employees, and you send employees, and they're being beaten and stoned and killed. Well, realistically, you're probably not going to send your son. But, in a symbolic sense, what he's saying is, I've sent all these prophets, and they rejected them. Last, I'm going to send my son. They will reverence my son. And here's the thing. You would think if there's anyone they're going to respect and have reverence for, it's going to be your son. Because obviously, no, wait a minute. We can't mess with the boss's son. He sends the son, and then they kill the son. Let me ask you a question. If you owned a business, and somebody killed your son, what would you do? That's the question that's being asked. Right? Well, of course, you're going to get rid of them. You're going to destroy them. Throw them in prison. Do whatever. Right? And he asks that question. I mean, it's a very obvious answer what's going to take place. They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men. Right? You're going to destroy them. And will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. So, what would a business owner do? Well, I mean, he would destroy those people. Jesus saith unto them, did you never read in the scriptures? He's like, I'm giving you an example to help you understand something. The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. So, why is all Jerusalem, you know, in fear or trouble, the Bible says? Well, because of the fact, Jesus Christ is the last one being sent. And, you know, they understand this is against them, and they get so mad that they want to kill him because they don't really understand fully that they're fulfilling exactly what he's saying. But here's the thing. Once they kill Jesus, it's like the point of no return. Because in the Old Testament, they got a 70-year punishment. Right? And they were able to return. And they got right with God for a little while. And then, of course, they rebel again. This takes place in Daniel's lifetime. He speaks about it, and it takes place in his lifetime. Time comes up, they return, and then they're there. But then, of course, they turn against God again. And eventually, they're not serving God, they're not serving God, and God gives them another chance, gives them another chance. And lastly, I'm going to send my son. And what do they do? Well, they kill the son. They don't just kill Jesus. They take credit for it. Let his blood be upon us and upon our children. You say, brother, second, but the Romans killed Jesus. Well, not according to the Bible. I mean, the Jews took credit for it. They said, let his blood be upon us and upon our children. They basically wanted to curse the next generations, and they pretty much cursed themselves. And then, shortly after, 70 AD, they're rejected from the land. I mean, there's no return for them at this point. You say, brother, second, what if they turn back to God? It's too late. It's too late. If those of that ethnicity all turn back to God, it would still be too late at this point. But it's kind of a mute point because they're not going to turn back to God. Are the Jews today, I mean, people say, well, the Jews today are God's chosen people. When did they turn back to God? It would be too late anyway, but when did they turn back to God? Is Jerusalem the beacon of Christianity in today's world? It's not a Christian nation. It's right near the top on the LGBT charts. In what way are they a godly nation? In what way are they a godly group of people? And I get it. We're brainwashed about Israel, aren't we? The Philippines is one of the most pro-Israeli countries in the nation, in the world, I should say. Now, the number one most pro-Israel country in the world, want to take a guess at who that is? The United States of America. So look, I get it. Now, I don't know why India is number two on the list, but India is number two. But I think Philippines was number three on the list last I saw, but it's right near the top. So look, I get it. I grew up in the United States, and of course, Islam is a false religion. I'm not saying anything good about Islam, but this idea that you get growing up here in America is that we got the big bad Muslims and Israel is just so godly and they're God's people and they're so great. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that they're rejected. Look, I'm not trying to compare false religions. They're both evil. They're both wicked. But I have nothing that would make me say, hey, I got to support Israel. I mean, they're God's people. Not anymore, my friends. They've been rejected. That land does not belong to them. But you say, but brother, second, they went back to the land. Look, I'm not trying to get into conspiracy theories. That's a whole other sermon or outside the scope of sermons. But here's the thing. If you think all those people are ethnically Jews passed down, it doesn't mean they deserve the land. They were rejected. They're gone. I don't care how many Baptist churches get up and praise Israel. I don't care how many Israeli flags they see in churches. They're not God's people. Jesus himself said they're going to be rejected. So why is Jerusalem trouble? Because they end up killing Jesus and now they're done. Right? That's what the Bible teaches. Go back to Matthew 2. I mean, a kingdom's going to be taken from you. Give in to a nation, bring forth the fruits thereof. I mean, Jesus cursed the fig tree. It's like, where's the fruit? I mean, and here's the thing. In what way is the nation of Israel getting lots of people saved today? Well, first you've got to get saved yourself to get somebody else saved. What fruit are they giving to God? I mean, it's ludicrous. Right? And here's the thing. People are going to point to a verse here or a verse there. And it's like, there's books of the Bible, tons of chapters and passages that clearly say they've been rejected. And you want to point to one verse that you're confused about to try to prove your point. It's like, what about the entire book of Galatians? What about the entire book of Romans? What about these parables that Jesus said? What about the fact that they understood this? He's speaking about us. You're right. And what's interesting is unsaved people understood what Jesus was saying about them. And then you've got Baptist churches today and they don't get it. It's like you're living in a dream world. It's like, how do they not understand this? Right? And we saw point number one. We saw the dedication of the wise men. And we're looking at the demand of Herod. Because notice what it says. He's troubled in verse number four. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. There was an understanding that the Christ was going to come. Herod is not an expert in these things, you can tell. But he had enough knowledge because probably everybody did. Everybody's waiting for the Christ to be born. And he has this knowledge and he's saying, where is he going to be born? And he demands to know where is he going to be born. So point number one, we see the dedication or devotion of the wise men. Point two, we see the demand of Herod. Point three, we see the description of the Christ. Okay? Go to John one. Let me just show you what the Christ means. John one, verse 41. John one. John one, verse 41. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiahs, or Messiah, which is being interpreted the Christ. When you're saying the Christ, you're saying the Messiah. When you say Jesus Christ, you're saying Jesus is the Messiah. And then you've got Baptist pastors that say cute things like, well, he's not my Messiah, he's the Messiah of the Jews. I mean, are you not saved? He's my Savior, too. He's my Messiah, too. He's my Christ. What are you talking about? He died for the sins of the whole world. Right? I mean, he is the Savior of the whole world, especially of those that believe. Right? You've got to believe on Christ to be saved. But, Bible, when it says Christ, he is the Messiah is what the Bible is saying. Go to John four. People say things like, well, Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. Well, John one, they said the Messiah means the Christ, which is exactly what it means. And let me just show you in John four, if that's what you think. Well, Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. John four, verse 25. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah is cometh, which is called Christ. When he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And who? The Messiah? The Christ? I mean, literally, when you're saying Jesus Christ, you're saying he is the Messiah. That is what you're saying. Right? And Jesus is the Messiah. He's the Christ. He's the Savior. He's all of that, as the Bible says. Now, go back to Matthew two. Matthew two. Matthew two. I mean, you've got people that will claim to be Christians, and they're going to be up on TV, they'll preach at churches, and they'll say, well, Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. He didn't come to be the Messiah for the Gentiles. He's the Messiah of the Jews. It's like, what? I mean, when you're reading your Bible, you're never going to walk away with that sort of weird belief. And what it really shows is that there's a lot of false prophets out there, and very few people that read the Bible. That's the reason why. Because if you get duped into something like that, it's just like, have you not read? Do you not know what the Bible says? Because it's not even like you could be confused on that if you read the Bible. I mean, it's obvious that that's not the case. Jesus is the Messiah. He's the Christ. And it's very obvious that Jews have been rejected. Right? Now, I get it. People have been brainwashed. They've heard this. And look, it's interesting to me because in my past, I did get brainwashed by a lot of Baptist churches, but I've never been to a pro-Israel church. I've never had a pastor that said the Jews were God's chosen people like that. So it's always bizarre to me, you know, when I started going to, after a few years, I went to Independent Fundamental Baptist Church. I'd already read the Bible a couple times, heard plenty of sermons, and then all of a sudden, it's like, this sort of preaching, it's like, what? It's like, that doesn't make any sense. Right? It's weird. And you'll see churches in the U.S. and sometimes they'll have an American flag and an Israeli flag in the same church. And it's just like, it's bizarre. I mean, Judaism is a wicked religion. They blaspheme Jesus Christ. The nation of Israel today is a wicked country. And look, I don't really care who has the land because it's only a piece of land that belongs to nobody except to God. Right? Matthew 2, verse 5. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet. So where is the Messiah going to be born? In Bethlehem of Judea. Now Bethlehem, I mean, it's not a big town. We sing the song, Oh little town of Bethlehem. It's a little town. It's got a small population. Even in today's world, this is not like Metro Manila or New York City or some... It's not. It's not a big place. There's not a lot of people. So when you have these modern day Messiahs, it's like, well, I'm the Messiah. Where were you born? In the Philippines? No, you're not the Messiah. Or there's this guy over in Russia who says he's the Messiah. Were you born in Bethlehem? No, I was born in Russia. Well, you're not the Messiah. There's this guy in Mexico. I was born in Mexico. No, you're not the Messiah. There have been a lot of Messiahs born in the United States. Jim Jones, the cult leader, and Guyana from way back. Man, I don't know all the names of these people. There's a lot of people that have risen up that will say they're the Messiah. Or recently, there's this guy who says he's like Jesus who used to be a new IFB guy. It's like, were you born in Bethlehem? Nope. Well, it's not you. That's requirement number one. And that really narrows down the group of people. As far as I know, I could be wrong, but I've never heard of someone claiming to be the Messiah that was born in Bethlehem other than Jesus Christ. Maybe there has been, but they didn't become famous as far as I know. Because it says, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, and now Bethlehem and the land of Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of these shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Now, go to Micah chapter 5. Let's see where this is quoted from. Micah chapter 5. Micah chapter 5. So this is something that was known. I preach on this way back in the alphabet of Bible doctrines where I talked about the doctrine of the Christ. And I talked about information about him. They knew where he was going to be born. There was information. When he's born, people are looking forward to that date that are believers. And even those that are not saved have heard about it. They're aware of this event that's going to take place. Nowadays, the event we really look at is the resurrection. But at that time, they're looking for the birth of Jesus Christ. And the Bible says in Micah 5, too, But thou, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of these shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Now the Bible says about Jesus Christ, whose goings forth have been from of old. Now, notice it does not say whose origins. In modern versions, like in the NIV, it says whose origins are from of old. You say, what's the problem with using the word origin? The word origin is going to imply that there is a time when this took forth. The wording in the King James sounds kind of strange. Whose goings forth? Because the King James is a poetic book. It's written amazingly. I mean, things are done in a certain way. You wouldn't think they'd say whose goings forth, but the Bible's representing the fact that, Whoa, wait a minute. We've got to be very clear. He doesn't have a date and time where he started to exist. Because his goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Meaning, you can go back as far as you want in the past. It is everlasting. Lasting forever. Meaning, there is no beginning. Now when you say whose origins are from of old, it's like, well that was a long time ago. But there's a beginning. And it gets worse because it says whose origins are from of old in the NIV, from ancient times. What is it saying in the NIV? A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. That's what it's saying. It says from ancient times. Jesus was the first creation of God is what it's teaching in the NIV. No, all things were made by him, the Bible says. He made all things. He doesn't have a beginning. He's eternal. We talked about this a lot recently, about eternally. I mean, by nature, he is the Son of God. He is the only begotten Son. Because by nature, his goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Right? Turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 2. Matthew 2, we'll close up Matthew 2. When people try to discredit the Bible, like Judaism does this, they'll try to discredit the fact that he was born in Bethlehem. They'll say, well, what the Bible's actually stating is that his lineage was born in Bethlehem, but he wasn't. There's no indication in the Bible that he was born in Bethlehem. This is what you're going to see on Jewish websites. And here's the thing, people are going to read that and they're going to believe it. It's like, yeah, you've never read the Bible then. Right? Because the Bible's very clear. Born in Bethlehem. And it's not just the Bible's clear, it's also clear that the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem. Because when Herod asks, like, where's he going to be born? Bethlehem. They didn't just say Bethlehem, they said, for thus it is written. It's like, this is prophesied, and it was something that was common knowledge. People were aware of it. Point number one, we see the dedication or the devotion of the wise men. Point number two, we see the demand of Herod. He demands where Christ should be born. Point number three, we see the description of the Christ. And lastly, we see the deception or the deceit of Herod. Matthew 2, verse 7. Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. Now, once again, I don't see any indication where it's like, hey, you know what, you're a king also, I'm a king. I don't see any indication here in this story. But he privately or quietly or discreetly calls the wise men and he inquires diligently, when did the star appear? What time did the star appear? Verse 8, and he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the young child. When he had found them, bringing me word again, they may come and worship him also. And so he says, hey, you know what, go to Bethlehem, find him, search diligently, and then tell me why, because I want to worship him also. Now, here's the thing. Let me just help you out, because these are great people. As I said, they are soul winners. I'm very dogmatic, because he that wins souls is wise. I think they are slightly naive, because they seem to believe what Herod's saying. Of course, God redirects them. I would be very skeptical if a king said they want to worship God. Right now, obviously, given the area, maybe it would make sense, but it's like he's being deceptive. Let me just say this. Just because somebody says something does not mean it's true. We tend to believe things, and I get it. All of us, naturally, if somebody says something, we believe it. But here's someone, and I want to just help you understand this, in the sake of religion and in church, just because somebody says something doesn't mean it's true. People get this idea, well, in church, you would never have people that would lie, but that's not true, because here's a man who's claiming to be someone who loves God. He wants to worship Jesus, but he doesn't. It's fake. He's lying about it. And there's nothing new under the sun. People would also lie about it in today's world. Matthew 2, verse 9, when they had heard the king, they departed, and lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. Verse 10, when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. They're excited. They've seen the Savior. They're finally there. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped Mary. Is that what it says? No. They're not worshiping Mary. And worshiped them. Is that what it says? No. I mean, unless you have a Catholic Bible. Worshiped him. Not worshiping Mary. Because Mary's not worthy of worship. Don't get me wrong. Mary is arguably the greatest woman that has ever lived. I think there's a reason why she was selected to be the mother of Jesus Christ. But she's not the mediatrix, because there's one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who is all God and all man. There is no mediatrix. It's like, I really want to talk to God. I've got to just get this idol of Mary and start praying to it. Mary's not the mediatrix, my friend. You're not going to find this phrase in the Bible. In fact, until I heard this from the Catholic church, I had never heard the term mediatrix. I mean, the term mediator, pretty common word, but mediatrix is like, what? I've never heard that before. By the way, Mary is also not the queen of heaven. If you call someone the queen of heaven, that is actually an insult. It's not a compliment. You say, what are you talking about, brother? It sounds like a good term. Have you ever looked up queen of heaven in the Bible? I mean, who's seen that phrase in the Bible before? If you read the book of Jeremiah, what do you see? I mean, they're worshipping the queen of heaven. I mean, it's mind-boggling. Before Mary, the term queen of heaven for what pagans would do, rejecting the true God, and then the Catholic church comes around a long time later, and what do they call Mary? The queen of heaven. It's like, why didn't you call her the princess of heaven? Why didn't you call her the queen of earth or anything? But you use the exact phrase that is actually not a good term. It's an insult. I mean, if you call Mary the queen of heaven, you're insulting her because that's like saying she's a false god. And here's the thing. We preach against mariolatry, if that's a term you want to use, worshipping Mary. And sometimes I feel bad about it because I truly believe that she's one of the top couple godliest women that have ever lived, perhaps one of the godliest people, I mean, arguably with anybody else. I mean, she's arguably the greatest person outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. She's certainly arguably the greatest woman. You don't really know. The Bible doesn't give us an exact comparison other than the reference it gives to John the Baptist in the Bible. But obviously she's one of the great women, great people that has ever lived. But she herself said, you know what, I rejoice in God my Savior. Because she realized I can't save myself. Because she was also a sinner. She was also sinful. She also had a sin nature passed down. Right? And it doesn't make any sense. If you want to try to say, well, I believe Mary was perfect. Right? The Immaculate Conception. Right? That Catholic, well, wait a minute. Were her parents perfect? Like, if she has to be perfect to give birth to Jesus, then her parents. It doesn't make any sense. Right? But what we see is, they fall down and they worship Jesus Christ. Why? Because Jesus is God. And the only one worthy of being worshiped is God. And Mary is not God. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto them gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And once again, we don't know how much money this is. I mean, it could be a small amount. It could be a large amount. I don't think it was a really small amount because my belief is probably a lot of people helped bring that. But as I said, you can't use this to say, well, see, there you go. You need to bring your best to God. Right? You know, it's like, you know, you need to bring like 50% of your paycheck. That's ridiculous. Right? And this is what some churches try to teach. That's not what you see in Matthew 2. All you see is a group of godly people that love God. They're soul winners. They come. They bring these gifts. We don't know how much, but they're obviously making a sacrifice. Some people try to say, well, they're kings because they're bringing gold. They must have been rich. Or maybe they're just really devoted. Maybe there's a large group of people that gave them an amount. Maybe they didn't give that much. We don't know. What we know is this is a group of soul winners. Were there three of them? Maybe. Right? Probably about a 5% chance in my opinion. I don't know. Maybe. We don't really know, but we know that they're people that love God. Let's close in the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see this story and help us to look at the example of these wise men, these people that are soul winners that are serving you. They love you, God. And help us also to be devoted to you today, God. Help us also to make sacrifices in our life. Help us also to be soul winners, God, and serve you and obey your commandments. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Hymn number 119. Hymn number 119, till the storm passes by. Hymn number 119, the first stanza. Hymn number 119, the first stanza. In the dark of the midnight. Hymn number 119, the last stanza. First stanza, in the dark. First stanza already. Sing. In the dark of the midnight. Hymn number 119, the last stanza. Hymn number 119, the last stanza. Hymn number 119, the last stanza. Hymn number 119, the last stanza. Hymn number 119, the last stanza. Hymn number 119, the last stanza. Hymn number 119, the last stanza. Hymn number 119, the last stanza. He's born. Everyone. Thank you. People think that God loves us with hische Because he loved us only Last night, many times Satan whispered, there is no need to try. For there's no end in sorrow. There's no hope by and by, that in all the power will be. Into all of our own lives, there is hope, there is light in the sky. For us, feel the storm as it's over, feeling the thunder, the sounds of the wind, feel the clouds go forever from the sky. For us, let me stand in the heart of the wind, in peace and to the storm as it's by. And the Lord lies in play, and the storm is no more. Let me stand in the presence on that bright, peaceful shore, feel the land where it's coming from, hear the storm, hear the rain fall on me, feel the storm as it's by. The storm passes over till the thunder sounds no more, till the clouds roll forever from the sky. Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of the hand, keep me safe till the storm passes by.