← ArchiveMissing ChristmasSunday, December 16, 2018DateDecember 16, 2018Speaker—TextMatthew 2Passages in this sermonMatthew 20:30Matthew 2:14:03Ephesians 1:523:54Ephesians 124:00John 1439:15TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00*music* Well, if you have your copy of God's Word with you, I encourage you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 2.0:30Matthew chapter 2. We're continuing a series we call Missing Christmas. Now, some of you like me know, and I really believe we all know someone like this who is wildly successful, but they're driven to success at all costs. You know, we know those people, maybe they're celebrities or maybe they're in your life. Personally, you know them, that they're highly successful, but you just know that they've achieved their success by means that are not necessarily righteous.0:58One story I remember is in, I'll take you back to 1998. And I remember really our nation captivated in that summer of watching baseball because you had two individuals battling for this home run crown. Now, they were trying to break Roger Maris' record and really no one had hit more than 50 home runs within the last 30 years.1:24I think four people had hit those milestones. And so you had an outfielder from the Chicago Cubs, Sammy Sosa. They had a first baseman from the St. Louis Cardinals. Mark McGuire, right? He was redheaded and Sammy Sosa was not. I remember watching them watching them, and they were these huge individuals. Like, I remember watching them on TV thinking, "A man should not be that large."1:50And, you know, this was during the whole PED and performance enhancement period of Major League, and they both claimed that they didn't take any during that time. And I remember thinking, every time I watched them hit these home runs online or on TV back then, their bodies grew every time I watched the game and their head got smaller. And I remember thinking, "Look, something's up. This is not natural." And later on it came out, at least one of them admitted to taking steroids.2:19And I remember thinking, "Wow, we just championed their success." And you look, and they achieved it in means that were not right. Actually, they broke the rules of the game by taking those. And because of that, they're not, even though they have these records, they're not in the Hall of Fame, and probably will never be in the Hall of Fame, or they will have their own wing of the Hall of Fame with an asterisk there.2:45Today, we look at another individual in Scripture, highly successful, win at all costs. And so he's a man, really, that he would rather climb the ladder. He doesn't care if he's climbing or he's pulling you down. But one way or the other, he's going to get to the top. A man by the name of Herod. So we're continuing our series called "Missing Christmas." And why have we entitled that? We're looking at people who either missed Christ in their life or almost missed what Christ was doing in their life because they were self-centered.3:15And we're asking, really, ourselves the question, "Lord, are we doing anything that would cause us to miss your glory in our lives?" And this is not, Herod is not simply a historical figure in the story of Christ. We know in 2 Timothy that all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable. So this is for us to learn and to grow and to pursue righteousness together.3:42So with that, let's look at Herod's life this morning. Mark, sorry, Mark, we've been in Mark for the last three months. So Matthew, chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible. Matthew, chapter 2, verse 1. "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod,4:05wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?'" Now, underline that, highlight that electronically, whatever you might do. We're going to come back to that important question. "For we saw His star rising, and we have come to worship Him.4:31When King Herod heard this, He was deeply disturbed, and all of Jerusalem with Him. So He assembled the chief priests and scribes of the people, and He asked them where the Christ would be born." Now, this is where we're going to be next week. We're going to look at Bethlehem, a town that either missed or almost missed Christ. And they simply said this. "Everyone knows."5:01"Everyone knows." That's my translation, right? "Bethlehem of Judea. For we were told by the prophet, because this is what is written. And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel." Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said,5:30"Go and search carefully for this child. And when you find him, report back to me so that I, too, may go and worship him." After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was. They saw the star as they had seen its rising. And it led them until they came and stopped above the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother.5:57And falling on their knees, they worshiped him. And they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route." Verse 16, "Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise man, flew into a rage." Why? Not because he couldn't worship.6:26"He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled. A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be consoled because they are no more."6:53Let's pray, Father. We have read your word, words that are living and active, words that are breathed out by you and you alone. Lord, we know that everything in your Holy Scripture is profitable for us. And so, Father, we ask right now that we would open our mind to know you more than we've ever known you. That we would open our heart to believe in you more than we've ever believed in you.7:22And that we would open our hands to serve you in ways that we have never served you before. Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, we're going to take a time out from what you've read here and give you a history lesson about Herod. So the Herod that we see here in Matthew 2:1 is Herod Agrippa I. Now, Herod, in 40 BC, lived in Jerusalem.7:50And at this time, this invading force, Pythians, come and they surround Judah. And while they were there, a man by the name of Antigonus creates a treaty or a pact with the Pythians, this raiding force. And with that pact, this is what they do. They say, "Okay, we'll make you king of Jerusalem and we'll also give you this title. Not only will you be king, you'll be preached, and you will be king of the Jews."8:20Sound familiar? And so during this, Herod, who's living in Jerusalem, realizes, "Look, if this guy is king and I am in leadership, then I'm a threat, so I'm leaving." So he flees to Masada. Some of you have actually been there near the Dead Sea. And he makes his way a circular route back to Rome. And he goes before Caesar and he goes before the Senate and he says, "Hey, Judah is under attack.8:45But if you give me authority, I will go create civil peace and then I will rule for you." So the Senate, this pleases the Roman Senate, and so they name Herod king of the Jews. And so Herod, for the next three years, he consolidates power. And the first part of his reign, he actually receives power by threats, by control, any means necessary.9:10But some of you don't know him as King Agrippa Uno. You know him by another name. You know him as Herod the Great. And so the center, really, the median of his reign is a time of prosperity. And we know that Herod begins to build, and he is one of the world's greatest builders. And he builds on the coast racetracks.9:39I don't think they're like the greyhound tracks that we have here. And he builds gladiator courses and pits. And he builds palaces and he builds the Herodian, which is about three miles from Bethlehem. And some scholars would even say that maybe Joseph, who was from Bethlehem, helped build Herod's palace, of all things. We also know that Herod built the temple.10:07So the temple that Jesus actually is teaching and worshiping in, in Jerusalem, is built by Herod the Great. He's great because he is a great builder. And so magnificent is that temple that, that literature, Jewish literature, even says this about the temple. They said, it says, "If you have never seen the temple of Herod, you have never seen a beautiful building." And if you want to go look that up later, it's in the Babylonian Talmud, "Baba-batha-4.a."10:34If you want to go back and read that later. But we have that in the earliest documents. This is the time that Christ was being born now. But the time of prosperity does not last. So we have Herod, king of the Jews, by authority of Rome. Now we have Herod the Great, the prosperous builder. And at the end of his life, we know that Herod was a man who tried to gain control and keep control of his kingdom.10:59And so from 13 B.C. to 4 B.C., Herod is, is keeping control. And this is how he does it. By the time of Jesus, Herod has 10 wives. 10. And lots of children. And we know that with multiple wives and multiple children, you have multiple heirs to the throne. One of the children, one of the first children he has is called a man named Antipur.11:25Antipur wants to be king one day. Herod doesn't like this. And so Antipur flees. Eventually he, he gets back in good graces. And so when he comes back into the house, he tries to poison his dad, Herod the Great. But he fails. And so instead he kills his uncle. Herod doesn't like that. So he throws his son in jail and he waits word from Rome to execute his son. And we know by the time of Christ, at least one of Herod's wives was executed.11:54And at least three of his sons were executed by this man. So egotistical was Herod that he knew when he died that all of Judah would celebrate. And he wanted his death to be a time of mourning. And so as he's writing his will, he commands his forces. He says, I want you to gather up all of the Jewish leaders, the nobility throughout the land. And I want you to throw them in the hippodrome.12:23And this is the order that when I die, I want you to slaughter these men, because I know that's the only way that my death will be a national day of mourning. Thankfully, when he died, they did not follow his orders and they released all these noblemen. Why do I tell you all of that about this man? We know that Herod, the history shows that he died in 4 BC. So I'm going to wreck some of your timelines. Jesus was not born in 0 BC. He was at least born in 4 BC, probably 6 to 4 BC.12:54So this is the Herod, this paranoid individual who is keeping control at all costs. This is the Herod that the Magi enter into when they come in Matthew chapter 2. And that gives us perspective at who these people are. And so how do we now relate to this in our lives? Well, I think several applications here for us.13:21One, I don't know of anyone here who has 10 wives and has killed one of them and killed their kids. And his desire that the nobility of the land be slaughtered. And you say, well, we would never do that. Obviously, Herod is the worst of the worst. Out of all the places that Jesus could be born, out of all the kings that Jesus could be born under, God sent his only son to this brutal king.13:50That we have coins that say he was king of the Jews and he is a friend of Caesar. And I begin to think about that. And I ask myself the question, Lord, why would you allow, why would you allow your son to be born under this tyrant? Well, why not in the time of prosperity, of peace? Well, why not in America or why not in Rome where there was the Pax Romana that things were going good?14:16And this is the overwhelming thread we have here. No matter your history, Jesus is for you. I don't think Herod ever knew or ever could contemplate that the true king of the Jews would be born in his lifetime under his leadership. And yet God is reminding Herod that you, even for you, my son is there that you might worship him.14:44Even for this illegitimate king, that the true king, the true Messiah is there for him. And I just begin to ask myself, Lord, what in my history keeps me from worshiping you? Or what in my history keeps me from preventing the power of Christ to work in my life? And I don't know what your past is, but we all have past, don't we?15:12And I believe that there are things in our past that keep us from seeing the glory of Christ. I had a lady bring firewood to our house a couple weeks ago, and she wanted to load it by herself. And I said, look, my dad will kill me. I just can't watch a lady work and me not do anything, right? Just my upbringing. So I helped her load the firewood. And as we're loading, I'm just sharing with her and asking her spiritual questions. And she stops me.15:41She says, hey, I'm not going to church, and I'm not ever going back. She said, during one of the worst parts of my life, when I needed the people of God the most, they turned their back on me. And I remember thinking, man, her history keeps her from seeing that God loves her and desires a relationship with her. And I just began to pray. As we're holding firewood, I'm praying over her, saying, Lord, I pray for Martha that you would draw her to yourself. And Lord, just remind her that there is no past in her life that keeps us from being loved and forgiven by Jesus.16:11So I don't know what right now in your life is keeping you from following Christ or maybe pursuing righteousness, but it's not worth holding on to. That's what we see from Herod, he was egotistical, he was maniac, and he had all of this history. And when the true king of the Jews is born to the one who called himself king of the Jews, his history prevented him in that moment from seeing God work in his life.16:32And he was so close. And he was so close. He was that close. I mean, even Herod says, he tells the Magi, right, you go find out about this king because what? I want to worship him also. That was a lie. But what in your life today keeps you from pursuing Christ?17:00Maybe you have an upbringing like me where you have grown up in church. And praise God for that. Never feel sorry or guilty for godly parents or a church that shares the gospel constantly in your life. But here's the caution, right? If you've grown up in church, the caution for you is that we will gravitate towards what's called moralistic therapeutic deism.17:22You say, well, those are big words. What does that mean? That we think we're good because we just know about God. Nothing can be further from the truth. Jesus says, no one is good but God. And you're not it. I'm not God. And so here is, and I'm speaking from experience, right? If you've grown up in church, here is the history that prevents you from living a life in the pursuit of holiness.17:50We default to the older brother and the prodigal son. But we look at people who've lived this horrible, sinful life in our minds and we say, God, I'm not them. Why don't you give me what is due? You gave him all of his inheritance and he comes back with nothing and you welcome him. And I don't even have a fattened calf that you kill for me. If we're not careful, we default to the older brother.18:21Where we say, Lord, you know I've been a pretty good person for my whole life. And the word of God stops us right there. It says, Josh, let me just caution you. You have never been good and you will never be good. But if you receive the son of God, Herod, if you receive the true king, I will make you righteous. And I will forgive you of your sins and I will give you, in return, I will give you the righteousness of my son.18:50What in your history keeps you from following Christ? Maybe you're the opposite. Maybe you have not grown up in church and you've been the son that just wandered away. And you've lived a completely sinful life because you thought that would fulfill you. And you've realized it hasn't. And now you look back and you think, man, I can never be forgiven for this. Maybe you look and you say, well, I haven't had 10 wives, but I've had 100 girlfriends. And I treated them all in a way that was never God's design.19:19I want you to know that he will forgive you. There is no sin in your life that is greater than the grace of God. And even if you're Herod, even if you say, well, my life's pretty close to this guy. There is no sin. I believe with all my heart that if Herod would have humbled himself and gone and seen Jesus and bowed his knees and worshiped the true king, that he would have found forgiveness. That's the power of the history maker.19:50There is no history in your life that is more sinful than the grace that is offered you today. What a powerful story of the gospel that Jesus, listen, Jesus will always be a part of Herod's history, whether he likes it or not. Under this murderous king, the true king was born. And for you, whether you like it or not, Jesus will always be a part of your story because he died for you while you were still sinner.20:19That is the invitation of the good news. I think secondly, in Herod's life, sometimes we miss Christ because of our history, our past. Sometimes we miss the glory of God because we're searching for identity. We don't really know who we are and we're longing, whether it's lifestyle or whether it's friends or relationships, we're just longing for identity.20:41We want to be worth something. And we see this in Herod's life, right? In chapter 2 of verse 1, in the days of King Herod, these wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem and they said, Where is he who is born king of the Jews? That sends alarm bells off in Herod's mind because they are coming to the throne of the one who calls himself king of the Jews.21:10And I don't know if they're foolish, naive or really brave, but they knock on the door of the palace that says, Here is the one who is king of the Jews. And they show up and say, Hey, have you seen this guy? Have you seen the true king? And they know what they're asking because look at Herod's response. He was deeply disturbed.21:40Are you searching for identity today? Yeah, we see this over and over that the reign of Herod was illegitimate. It doesn't matter what you call yourself. It doesn't matter what God calls you. Herod called himself king of the Jews. And here's the fact. He was half Edomite, dad's side, and he was half Arab because his mom was the daughter of an Arab sheik. And so he wasn't a true Jew. And he knew that.22:10The Jews knew that. And there was always tension. He called himself king of the Jews, but he could not be because he was not the legitimate king. It doesn't matter what you call yourself. It matters what God calls you. And we see this over and over again in our society. Most of us have, we just struggle for legitimacy. We live in a world that says you are what you feel today. We see that with the gender issue and with class warfare and racism or sexism.22:39It doesn't matter who you are. It just matters what you feel like today. Let me say this. Your feelings are not absolute truth. Your feelings change based on what you ate this morning. Your feelings change based on who wins a ball game. A ball game that, look, you have no control over.23:07Even if you scream to the top of your lungs and you're there, they don't look up at the stands and say, you know what, Josh? Thank you for screaming. I think I'm going to audible and I'm going to call the right play. Or the other team doesn't mess up and say, man, will you just stop screaming? I can't hear. Like your feelings don't impact that. And yet these games, which are insignificant, impact us. And I'm speaking from experience. Right.23:37Right. But we live in a world that says you are what you feel. And that is not the truth. So no matter what you call yourself, feelings are fleeting and they are not the source of absolute truth. Here's the source of truth. Listen to what Ephesians 1.5 says. If you can't grasp anything else, listen to this truth. Ephesians 1 verse 5. God predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.24:02That God, before the foundations of the world, wants you to be a son and a daughter. That's why over and over again we see in Scripture that when God comes into someone's life, he changes their name because he gives a new identity. Right. You will no longer be called Abram, father.24:31I will call you Avraham. Right. Father of many. Now think about that. God calls him that, changes his name, gives him a promise and a covenant. He doesn't even give him kids yet. He says, hey, I know you're really old, like you're 90 and 100, but I'm about to bless you. And through a child you haven't even had yet, I'm going to change the world. I'm going to change you. That's the power of God. You will no longer be called Abram.24:59You will no longer be called the heel grabber. Right. The rest of the, the shyster. You won't be called Jacob. You know, Jacob was so shady that he was grabbing his brother's heel in the womb. How shady do you have to be? You're trying to pull someone down before you're even born yet. And Jacob wrestles with God and he realizes this is one battle I can never win. I can't cheat my way out of that. And God says, I'm going to change your name because I'm going to change your life. You will no longer be the shyster.25:29You'll be Israel, the man who has seen God. God gives us identity. He changes who you are when you have a relationship with him. No longer will I call you Simon. But you know that the man who speaks before he thinks, but I will call you Petras and upon this rock, I will build my church. God changed him. And we know that Peter was a leader in the church of God. No longer will you be Saul, this man who is breathing murderous threats against the church of God.25:57No longer will you be known as the one who, who held the coats of the people who killed the first Christian, the first martyr. But you will be called Paul, one of the greatest missionaries the world has ever known. God gives us and changes our identity when he adopts you. And maybe you're here right now and you are holding on to the past. The history we talked about that prevents you from seeing Christ.26:27Maybe you know that you're a Christ follower, but you are still identifying with your sinfulness rather than the righteousness of God. Look, he has changed your name. And if you read Revelation, you have a name you don't even know yet. And when you get to heaven, Jesus is going to call you by the name you don't even know. And you're going to say, that's it. He's talking to me because he's given me a new identity. Adoption. I was talking with one of those young ladies here at our church.26:54She was baptized recently. And I began to share the gospel with her. And I was trying to use all these metaphors that the gospel uses. You're in a new family and you're from dead to life. And I used this one metaphor. And I said, hey, I just want you to know that in Jesus Christ, he adopts you into his family. And she stopped. And so just get the picture, right? So I'm speaking around this little table with this daughter and her new mom, adopted mom. And so I'm speaking to this young lady and she looks at me.27:24She says, wait, I'm adopted. She said, Jesus will do that? I'm not even looking at mom because I know what's about to happen. Mom just like, she lost it. And just seeing the power, and this girl gets it. She said, ma'am, I have a new identity. And I said, listen, so when that judge declared you adopted into a new family, I said, will you ever be unadopted into this family? She said, no, that will never happen. I said, that's the power of Christ in us.27:53That if you are in Christ, you will never be unadopted by his grace. That's the power of Christ. And Herod needs to, he needed to hear that. He needed to know that he was not king of the Jews. He was illegitimate. But that Jesus would give him a new identity. If you're here today and you are identifying as a sinner and not righteous, I want you to know that Jesus wants to change who you are. He doesn't just want to change your behavior.28:24He radically changes who you are. Everything. That's the power of the gospel. Third, I think we miss Christ because we just don't understand our identity. And third, we miss Christ because often we want control of our lives. We just want control. Look at Herod here. He was deeply disturbed in verse 3 and he asked them, he says, at what point did the star appear?28:45And then it says in verse 8, when you find Jesus, report back to me so that I too may worship him. Now, remember, this is the king who killed some wife. I don't know which one it was. One of the ten. Let's just call her number three, right? He killed number three and at least three kids because he wanted control of his life.29:11And here he is again saying, I need control. His family was in disarray because he wanted control of his life. His relationships were crumbling. His life was crumbling and every person in his sphere of influence, they were only a tool to be controlled that he might have power. Are you trying to control everything in your life?29:40When we do, we miss God working. Psychology Today says it this way. Not as a secular magazine. They said that we all have a basic need for control in our lives. Listen to what they say. We might express our need for control to varying extents and in different ways. But our need for control has a strong influence on all of our lives. A persistent lack of control in a person's life often leads to depression and anxiety.30:09And maybe that's you right now. Maybe you're struggling with anxiety or depression because you just have to be in control. Maybe you're here and you say, well, that's not me. I'm not a control freak. Well, maybe control is more subtle in your life. Maybe it sounds like this. Well, no one knows you better than you know yourself. No, God knows you better. Maybe controlling spiritual nature sounds like this.30:38Well, you know what? I don't really need the ministry of others in my life. No, God says you do. God says you do. Maybe you're controlling. It sounds like this. Well, I know the Bible really well, so I'm okay. Or I'm a member of this church or that church, so you know what? I'm good. That is a control over your spiritual nature, and that is not godliness.31:07Parents, let me caution us also. We live in a world where parents are known for, like my generation, we're known for controlling our kids. We've developed or invented the helicopter parent where we hover over our kids because heaven forbid they make a mistake. Listen, your children are not perfect.31:36They're not. And if there was a perfect child, of course it would be mine, right? So let me just burst your bubble there. No, our children are not perfect. None of us. And there's a new definition, not just helicopter parents, but bulldozer parents. And these are parents that want to remove any obstacle and let our kids never face difficult times because we just want to control their lives. You know what we're doing to our kids? We're killing them spiritually.32:05We're killing them spiritually because we want control. What we're telling our children is this, your parents know best. And what we should be telling them is God knows best. We should be telling them that God is infinitely greater and his plan is infinitely greater than mine for you. And I know you're going to make mistakes. And if you don't make the perfect grades, look, I'm not going to be happy, but I'm not going to be disappointed in you because you're going to still be my child. You're going to be my son and daughter because your status as my child is not based on what you do.32:31It's based on who you are. Because that's what our Heavenly Father tells us. Psychology Today continues. Listen to this. What a profound thought. We'll end here. So having control allows us to take on a risk we might not take otherwise. For instance, if we choose to go skydiving, we judge the risk acceptable because it is under our control.33:01I'm still waiting. I'm going. I'm going skydiving. I'm going to tell my wife when I finish. I'm going to tell her, look, I just want you to know I went skydiving. I'm safe. But that thought is profound that we would take risk if we are in control. Let me ask you, if Jesus has complete control of your life, what would you be willing to do for the kingdom today?33:26The reality is none of us are in control. And even if you think you are, one day that I'm going to die, I'm going to see God face to face. And I'm going to realize I have no control. And that God is a sustainer of who I am. And I just pray for men and women. I pray for my life that I can have a life that God is fully in control.33:51And I would take risk for the gospel. That I would be someone that the world will look at and says, what are you doing? The world, this man that went to this island where this, you know, the tribe that they didn't know any outside people, and he was killed recently. And the world looks at that and says, how dare you bring disease to them? And that was foolish. Why would you go to people that want to kill you? Because he knew that Jesus had complete control of his life.34:20And he deemed the risk worth it. Are you letting Christ take complete control of your life today? Look at what these wise men do. They go to the king of the Jews and they ask him, Can you please, sir, tell us where the king of the Jews is? On the risk of their life. Why would they do that? Because they believe that God was enough.34:50These wise men, they worship Christ. And why would they give these valuable gifts? Why would they bow down to this baby? There's nothing intrinsically authoritative about a baby. Why would they take this risk? Why would they give this child gifts that we would say, man, that's lavish. They just handed them their 401k. Because they felt that this child was worth it.35:18Why would they not listen to Herod on threat of their life and go back another way? Because they believed God was enough. Are you someone that you're willing to take risk for the kingdom today? And maybe your time of response is, Lord, I have been playing this safe church game for far too long. Lord, you know, I sit in the same pew. I sat in the same pew for the last two years. Well, this indention is mine.35:47And God is telling you this morning, it's time to move. Yes, you've been gathering. Yes, you've been growing. But it's time to go. That pew is not going to... When Christ returns, this pew is going to burn up. It's not even going to be here. But people who need Jesus, they need you to go share. Take a risk. And to be men and women where we stand up and we say, God, we need you. And if we have you, you are all that we need.36:17Don't miss Christmas in your life. So how do we respond to the gospel? I think first we see in Herod's life that no one is beyond the grace of God. The history of Jesus will always be linked to the history of Herod. One of the most brutal rulers in Judah's history. God gave him a chance to know the Prince of Peace.36:46He gave him the chance to truly worship Jesus Christ. For this person, for Herod, Jesus was born. And for you, Jesus was born. I don't know your past. I don't know if you've walked in here with just a heavy burden of shame. Knowing that your sins are great. I want you to know that even when Jesus knew that your sin was great, he died for you.37:14Would you rewrite where you sit and just say, Lord, I need you. You say, well, how do I put my trust in Jesus? How do I obey him fully? Maybe just very simply. Maybe you need to respond like the Magi responded. What was your response to the King of Kings? We know that they bowed down before him. And they gave him gifts.37:44Now, Americans, don't miss this picture. Because we are proud people. We are people that say, let's add God into our life. I'm not bowing before him. It's my life. I'm self-sufficient, not Savior-sufficient. We need to be people who bow before Jesus and say, I'm bowing because you are exalted. And Lord, whatever you want in my life, it is yours. Maybe you need to do that today for the first time and say, God, if you interrupt my life, I'm okay with it.38:12Because you're worth it. Jesus was born for you. That you would have everlasting life if you believe in your heart. And maybe right where you need to sit, you need to believe for the first time and confess he is Lord. Maybe you still struggle with worshiping God. We live in the South. And most people in the South are Herod Christians.38:38You say, well, what do you mean by that? Uh-oh. What do you mean by that? Look at what Herod does here. Herod summons the wise men in verse 8 and says, report back to me so I can go and worship him. He wants to worship him in name only. He has no desire to change his life. He has no desire to have Jesus captivate him and live with full surrender to the King of Kings. But he wants the wise men to think he does.39:09I'm reminded by the scripture that our Savior says. John 14, 21 says, if anyone loves me, he will obey my commands. And if he loves me, he'll be loved by my Father. And I will love him and reveal myself to him. Maybe today, for the first time, you realize you've been worshiping in name only with your lips. You say you worship Christ. But as you look at your life, as you look at your heart, you realize you don't.39:37And you're no different than Herod. I pray that you don't leave here today without doing business with God. And say, God, today I give you full surrender. That you are everything I need. Maybe this morning you need an identity change. Maybe you still identify with your old life and you've been regenerated by Jesus and you've been baptized. Hey, baptism is a picture, right?40:07That you've died to your old self and you are raised in new life. Maybe you just need to rejoice and say, God, remind me of the new identity. God, remind me that I have been adopted and I will never be unadopted. And I'm a son and I'm a daughter. Lord, don't let me forget that. Maybe this morning you are the control freak. And maybe you are not taking a risk in your life because you just don't think it's worth it.40:33You want to stay in a safe place. Lord, I will, you know, I'll keep my spiritual bubble, but Lord, don't let me go here. Don't make me go on missions. Lord, don't let me share my faith. Lord, don't ask me to give sacrificially. Lord, don't ask me to move pews. Lord, don't ask me to sing songs I'm not comfortable with. Lord, just keep me safe. I want to remind you that our Savior was crucified for you. I want to remind you that all of the apostles gave their life.41:03And we have brothers and sisters right now around the world that are dying for their faith. And if we were to ask them, is it worth it? They would say, it is beyond worth it. I would rather be with the Savior than be safe any day. Let's pray.← Previous in Missing ChristmasSunday, December 9, 2018Next in Missing Christmas →Sunday, December 30, 2018More sermons on Matthew →
