But look at verse number one, Matthew chapter two, verse one, actually verse two, it says there, Matthew chapter two, verse two, saying,
Where is he that is born King of the Jews?
The title of the sermon tonight is King of the Jews.
King of the Jews.
You know, Jesus Christ truly is the King of Kings.
He truly is the Lord of Lords.
And here immediately, as soon as we hear about this baby being born,
the Bible calls him the King of the Jews, okay?
So it's an amazing thing that this is straight away, as soon as he's born, this is how he's identified.
Look at verse number one, Matthew chapter two, verse one, it says,
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.
All right? So you guys are pretty familiar with the story of Christmas.
All right? A lot of children grow up knowing the story of Christmas.
You know, as long as they've not been taught about Santa Claus and all that nonsense,
if they've been taught a little bit about the birth of Christ, you're probably familiar with a lot of this.
Now, a lot of Christmas models, you know, and they have the babe and the manger and Mary
and the shepherds and the sheep and all those kind of things, many times they include the wise men, okay?
And usually three wise men or three kings they include in that story.
But what we'll see here developing, if you remember chapter one, that covered the birth of Christ.
But here in chapter two, it's actually a couple of years or at least a few months after the birth of Christ, okay?
And we'll pick this up soon. Look at this.
Actually, before we turn away, can you please turn to the book of Isaiah?
Turn to the book of Isaiah chapter 60. I want to show you something.
The book of Isaiah chapter 60.
Because the Bible doesn't tell us how many wise men came to Jerusalem.
All it tells us is they came from the east.
These wise men were not Jews, okay?
They were coming from other parts of the world, from east.
I'll look at this soon. Where are they coming from?
Turn to Isaiah chapter 60.
Isaiah chapter 60.
Now, are you guys familiar with that song, We Free Kings?
We free kings from Orientar.
Now, the Bible never really calls these people kings.
It does call them wise men, okay?
And it is wise to come and search for the king and the Jews.
It is wise to come to worship him, alright?
But I just want to show you here in Isaiah 60 where the idea of them being kings comes from, okay?
Where does it come from? Look at Isaiah chapter 60 verse 1.
It says,
Arise, shine, for the light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness to people.
But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
So here we have in verse 3 that the Gentiles will come, and kings will come to the brightness of his rising.
And many people associate this with this portion of scripture,
where the wise men and the Gentiles are traveling to see this newborn Christ, okay?
Now I'm not completely sold, I'm not completely dogmatic that this is about the wise men,
but there's a lot of interesting things here. Look at verse number 4.
Lift up thine eyes round about and see.
All they gather themselves together, they come to see.
Thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
Then thou shalt see and flow together, and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged,
because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee,
the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
Now look at this in verse 6.
This is why you get the pictures of these kings or these wise men coming in camels,
coming right on camels, if you guys are familiar with that.
It says here in verse number 6.
The multitude of camels shall cover thee.
The dromedaries of Mirian and Ipah, or they from Sheba, shall come.
They shall bring gold and incense.
Now what were the gifts that the wise men gave Jesus?
We're going to see this later on in this chapter.
But it was definitely incense and gold.
We see that parallel there in verse number 6.
And they shall show forth the praises of the Lord.
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee.
The rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee.
They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar,
and I will glorify the house of my glory.
So notice in verse number 6 it tells us where these Gentiles are coming from.
It says of Mirian.
Now, Mirian today is what we would call Saudi Arabia.
People come from Saudi Arabia, and that is east of Israel.
That is east of Jerusalem.
That would make sense, because these wise men are coming from the east.
But notice it also said Mirian in verse 6, Mirian and Ipah.
I'm not sure how to pronounce that, Ipah.
But look that up, and that's modern day Iran.
That's modern day Iran, again, east of Jerusalem.
And then in verse number 7, it says all the flocks of Kedar,
and that's modern day Iraq, that's modern day Iraq,
shall be gathered together unto thee.
So if this is a parallel passage of the wise men,
then you can see why people think of them as kings coming from the east,
they're coming from Gentile nations,
and they're coming to see the king of the Jews.
Now often, today we don't think about Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq,
thinking about Jesus Christ coming to serve the Lord of the Bible, right?
But we see in the time of Christ that people were coming from these areas to worship him.
The only one that's left field out of that portion there is verse number 6,
it says all they from Sheba shall come.
So Sheba is known as probably Ethiopia.
So that would be west, west of Jerusalem.
That's the only difference there.
But of course that also includes other Gentiles coming to see Christ.
So a lot of people do associate Isaiah chapter 60 with the wise men.
And I think you can see some parallels there.
Coming from the east, Gentiles bringing the golden incense,
and I think there's probably a good case that it definitely is about the wise men.
But I wouldn't be totally dogmatic on that, okay?
Anyway, turn back to Matthew chapter 2.
Matthew chapter 2, verse number 2.
Matthew chapter 2, verse 2.
It says, saying, what are these wise men saying?
Saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews?
For we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.
And have come to worship the king of the Jews.
Now, you guys were in Isaiah, I should have told you to stay in Isaiah.
Turn to Isaiah chapter 9.
Turn to Isaiah chapter 9, okay?
Now, while you're turning to Isaiah chapter 9,
I'm going to read to you from 2 Samuel, okay?
2 Samuel chapter 7, that's what I'm going to be reading you two from.
But you guys turn to Isaiah chapter 9, okay?
2 Samuel chapter 7, verse 12.
This is something that God told King David, all right?
What did he tell King David?
He says, and when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers,
or when you pass away, I will set up thy seed after thee,
which shall proceed out of thy vows, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
forever.
So we know this is talking primarily about Solomon,
that King Solomon would come from the vows of David, right?
Of David, and that he would build a house to the Lord,
that he would build a temple in Jerusalem.
But notice that it said, what I read, it said that the throne of his kingdom forever,
this kingdom is forever, this kingdom is eternal.
Look at verse 14, I will be his father, and he shall be my son.
Okay?
And as I start reading this, you're going to notice that this is more than just Solomon.
This has also a double portion of prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And of course, we know that Jesus Christ was the son of God, okay?
But it said that I will be his father, and he shall be my son,
if he commit iniquity of chastening with the rod of men,
and with the stripes of the children of men.
And that could be a picture of Christ as well, being crucified, taken on.
You know, not his own sin, but taken on our sin,
and being chastised by God, by being smitten, being whipped and nailed on the cross.
We could apply that as well.
But then verse 16 says this,
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee.
Thy throne shall be established forever.
According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
Alright?
Now, again, I asked this question last week.
Does Israel, earthly Israel right now,
does earthly Israel have a kingdom?
Does it have a king?
No.
Alright?
It's only been recent years that Israel even exists as a nation, okay?
For 2000 years, you know, it's been without the nation of Israel.
The Jews have been scattered from all areas of the world, okay?
And so, was God lying when he said this kingdom will be established forever?
Of course not, okay?
Because we know from the previous chapter that Jesus would also be a descendant of King David.
And we know that Jesus is the seed of King David, the seed of Abraham, right?
And when God spoke about his kingdom had been established forever,
we're talking about the eternal kingdom of God, alright?
The kingdom of God which has come, when Jesus Christ came, he came as the king, right?
And we know that, spiritually speaking, when people get saved, they enter into the kingdom of God.
But we also have the millennium to come.
We have the new heavens and the new world when Jesus Christ hands that kingdom to the Father,
and that kingdom will be established forever, okay?
Forever.
If you've been saved, then you are a member of that kingdom of God.
You have entered into that kingdom of God already, spiritually speaking.
It's been established as far as God is concerned, okay?
So we see the importance of Jesus being the king of the Jews, that he would be a descendant of David.
And we saw that proof in the genealogy last week in chapter 1.
But you guys are in Isaiah 9, look at Isaiah 9-6.
Isaiah 9-6, this is a great prophecy from the prophet Isaiah, and he says,
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder.
Hey, Christ came with a kingdom, he's got his government upon him.
And it says that his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Look at verse 7.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
There's no end to his government, there's no end to his kingdom.
It says, Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
So we see, yeah, the great prophecy of Christ here, being born into the world, this son will be given to us, right?
But we also know that he's got his kingdom, okay?
And that he's going to rule, and he definitely is the king.
This is why the Bible calls him the King of Kings.
You know, he came from the lineage of kings.
He was the King of King David.
He was the King of King Solomon.
And if we tie in Isaiah 60 with the wise men, then they were kings as well.
It's not just the King of the Jews, but the King of the Gentiles.
Even the Gentile wise men who released the kings came to seek him and to worship him.
We truly have the King of Kings in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It turns back to Matthew chapter 2.
Matthew chapter 2, verse number 3.
Now, I'll just read it.
When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem whipped him.
Now, this verse is pretty much the reason why a lot of people don't think it was three.
You know, the three wise men and the three kings.
A lot of people think it was much more than three.
They think it might have been a caravan of maybe even hundreds of people coming to see Christ.
Not just these wise men, but all their servants and all their workers, all that as well, come in.
The reason being that is if it was just three people walking into Jerusalem,
I don't think King Herod would have really cared.
But if there was a great amount of people traveling from the east,
and they're talking, hey, where's the King of the Jews?
Then you can understand why that would trouble Herod and it would trouble all Jerusalem.
Because this would be a significant event of people coming into Jerusalem.
Look at verse number 4.
And when they had gathered all the...
Sorry, before I read that, I was just thinking about the United States.
You've got this caravan of Latinos trying to get into America.
Have you guys been hearing about that in the news?
I don't know how many thousands.
I guess it's kind of like that.
Maybe it was just this huge caravan of people coming into Jerusalem.
Where's Jesus Christ? Where is he? Where's this King of the Jews?
So we can come and worship him.
But anyway, verse number 4.
And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,
he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
It's amazing that the Jews themselves hadn't worked this out,
but the Gentiles had worked out, hey, this is about the time that he should be born.
And we know that the wise men were following our star from the east, the light from the east.
And verse number 5.
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it was written by the prophet,
and thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah,
for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.
So once he gathered the chief priests and scribes and they started it out,
they worked out, oh yeah, he's going to be born in Bethlehem.
Now the book of Matthew is a very interesting gospel.
It is the gospel which turns to the Old Testament more than any of the others.
Quite often you'll see, as the prophets had spoken or as the prophets had written,
and I think when you're studying the Bible, even when you're just reading the Bible,
I strongly recommend when you see passages like this,
it says in verse number 5, for thus it was written by the prophet,
I really encourage you to go back to the Old Testament and see where that was written.
Because quite often the Old Testament will give us a lot more information,
a lot more detail, than just that one little passage that was written.
So I'll just give you a quick example of this.
That our writing was found in the book of Micah,
you don't need to turn there, you can turn there if you're fast enough,
but Micah chapter 5 verse 2, Micah chapter 5 verse 2, I'll just read it to you,
Micah chapter 5 verse 2, because there was a little part that was missing
in what was written there in the New Testament.
I'll just read it to you, Micah chapter 5 verse 2, it says,
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is, to be ruler in Israel,
but this is the part that's missing, whose goings forth have been from old from everlasting.
This one that would come from Judah, if you remember,
that he was also prophesied that Jesus would come from the tribe of Judah.
But it also said that he's from old, he's from everlasting.
Even though he was born in Bethlehem, that was not the beginning of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God.
He is the Word of God. He is God manifest in the flesh.
And that was not his beginning.
Bethlehem's manger was not his beginning.
Bible says here in Micah that he was of old from everlasting.
He is God, he is the creator of all things.
So it's not just an earthly king, but it's God manifest in the flesh.
He's from eternal, and we know that his kingdom is forever.
His kingdom is eternal.
And then I'll go back to Matthew chapter 2.
Matthew chapter 2.
I just wanted to show you, it's really cool to go back to the Old Testament,
because you can pick up a lot of other information there.
But number 10 verse number 10, sorry, not number 10, verse number 7,
And Herod when he had privately called the wise men,
he 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.
You think Herod the king wanted to worship Jesus?
We'll see in this chapter that that wasn't his plan.
He had nefarious plans. He wanted to kill the Lord Jesus Christ.
And of course, that's why he troubled him.
Verse number 3, he troubled him to hear that the king of the Jews was born.
But verse number, what do we have two guys?
I think I need glasses now. Verse number 9.
Verse number 9. Yeah, verse number 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.
Now, a lot of people have done research.
If you type in this star of Bethlehem or the Christa star,
a lot of people have done a little research
trying to work out what this star is.
And they'll look at the night sky,
they'll try to work out back in whatever date that might have been,
which stars was the one that was kind of over Bethlehem.
People think it might have been the planet Jupiter or whatever.
I don't think that's really a worthwhile study.
I think this star is a supernatural star.
I think it's a miracle.
The fact that they just found the star again,
it led them all the way to Jerusalem to begin with,
and now it's going to lead them to Bethlehem.
And as we'll soon see, this light of the star
literally stops above the house where Jesus was.
So this doesn't sound like your average star.
This might very well be a miracle of God,
maybe even an angel.
But that's my voice.
If you guys are wondering,
I think it's just a supernatural occurrence that took place here.
But verse number 10.
Verse number 10.
And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And when they were coming to the house,
they saw the young child who had married his mother
and fell down and worshipped him.
And when they had opened their treasures,
they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
And so frankincense, you can see in the writing there,
it's incense, and so is myrrh.
And gold as well, that was presented to Jesus
as was prophesied there in Isaiah chapter 16.
But I want you to notice in verse 11,
it says,
And when they were come into the house,
Now that should immediately tell you
that this did not take place at the birth of Christ.
Because if you remember the story,
keep your finger there, turn to Luke chapter 2.
Turn to Luke chapter 2.
Luke chapter 2, verse 7.
The Bible says,
And she brought forth her firstborn son,
and wrapped him in swaddling clothes,
and laid him in a manger.
So what's a manger?
That's basically a feeding,
what they call a feeding trough for animals.
Okay.
Why did they put him there?
Why did they put him there in the manger?
Because there was no room for them in the inn.
Okay, there was no room for them.
So they ended up having to go somewhere
where there were animals, I suppose,
and lay this baby in a manger.
But notice there in Matthew chapter 2,
when the wives then came,
they're now in a house.
They have a place to rest their heads.
They have, you know, a roof over their heads,
and they don't need to necessarily put a baby
in a manger anymore.
Okay.
So some time has taken place after this, okay.
It's no longer a babe, but a young child.
And look at verse number 12.
Matthew chapter 2 verse 12.
Verse number 12.
And being warned of God in a dream
that they should not return to Herod,
they departed into their own country another way.
So the wise men have departed another way
and God warned them,
don't go back to Herod.
And when they were departed,
behold the angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream saying,
Arise and take the young child and his mother
and flee into Egypt
and be there until I bring thee word,
for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Okay.
So God warns Joseph, right?
The man of the house.
Hey, look, you need to get out of here,
go into Egypt
because this evil King Herod
will seek to kill Jesus Christ.
And I love how Joseph responds in verse 14.
Remember, Joseph is not the biological father of Jesus, right?
He's the stepfather of Jesus.
He married Mary.
But what I love about him
is that he's a great man of faith.
He's obedient to the Lord.
In verse 14 it says,
when he arose,
he took the young child and his mother by night
and departed into Egypt.
All right.
So we see when he hears from God,
Joseph acts, okay.
He's obedient.
He's obedient to the Lord God.
And number two,
you know, he's a great man.
He's a great father.
He's a great husband.
He seeks to protect his family.
Okay.
Knowing that there's going to be evil,
knowing that people are seeking to destroy them,
he seeks to protect his family.
Okay.
So we see some great attributes of a godly man.
Faithful, obedient and protective of his family.
Verse number 15.
And was there in Egypt, that is,
until the death of Herod,
that he might be fulfilled which was spoken
of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
out of Egypt have I called my son.
Out of Egypt have I called my son.
So this is another prophecy in the Old Testament
that was spoken of Jesus Christ,
that he would have to come out of Egypt,
that God the Father would call out his son out of Egypt.
Now this is a really interesting passage to turn to.
If you can turn to Hosea,
Hosea chapter 11 verse 1,
Hosea chapter 11,
because we're going to see an example
of another double fulfillment.
Okay, some prophecies,
some writings and scriptures have a double fulfillment.
Something that took place at that point in time,
but also reflected was something that would
take place later in the future.
Okay, Hosea chapter 11 verse 1.
Hosea chapter 11 verse 1.
Look at this.
When Israel was a child,
then I loved him
and called my son out of Egypt.
So that's a reference we read in Matthew chapter 2.
And then verse 2.
It says,
As they called them,
so they went from them,
they sacrificed unto Balaam,
and burned incense to graven images.
So notice that here in Hosea,
Hosea chapter 11 verse 1,
it's talking, the context,
the direct context here,
is of the nation of Israel.
That God saw the nation of Israel as a child,
which obviously in the book of Exodus,
you know, left Egypt.
They left Egypt with Moses.
But unfortunately, as you guys know the story,
you know, many of them turned to false gods.
You know how they built that golden calf
and they worshiped that golden calf?
I mean, that's just the beginning of the problem.
We know through their history,
they would turn and worship false gods
and burn incense to them.
And that's what God is saying here in verse number 2,
that even though he called them,
they sacrificed to false gods,
to Balaam, and burned incense to graven images,
and they had statues and images
that they would worship.
Okay, so I just want to show you
this quite an interesting thing in Hosea.
What is being referenced in Matthew chapter 2
is that Israel, in verse number 1,
the nation of Israel,
but the greater fulfillment,
the purpose of that verse,
was to teach us about Jesus Christ,
that he too would go into Egypt
and come out of Egypt.
That's just an amazing thing,
because if you were just reading Hosea,
you would have no idea that that was about Jesus.
And when you're really familiar with the New Testament,
and you're really familiar with the story of
redemption, salvation, you know,
when you go back to the Old Testament,
you now see all these amazing things
that just seem to parallel Jesus Christ.
And this is the way it is.
The Bible is a supernatural, amazing book.
You go back and just notice
all these things about Jesus, alright?
Anyway, back to Matthew chapter 2.
Back to Matthew chapter 2, verse 16.
Verse 16.
Then Herod,
when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men,
was exceeding wrath,
and sent forth and slew all the children
that were in Bethlehem,
and in all the coasts thereof,
from two years old and under,
according to the time
which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
So notice that in the second part of verse 16,
it says that he slew all the children,
from two years old and under.
So all the children in Bethlehem,
in the surrounding areas,
if you were two years old or under,
you were put to death.
You were killed by the armies of Herod.
Alright?
Now this is why many people,
myself included,
believe that when the wise men came to see Jesus,
that Jesus may have been about two years old at this stage.
He may have already been about two years old.
Because, notice that it says,
according to the time
which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
So he was able to work out,
well, they first saw that star
about two years ago,
and so I'm going to kill all the children
that are two years old and under,
and that should take care of the king of the Jews.
That should wipe him out.
Okay?
No one, obviously,
but they had escaped into Egypt.
So a very wicked act,
a very wicked act by this man.
Verse number 17.
I mean, just think about it.
If your mother and your two year old baby
is taken and killed,
you know, it's just a sad thing.
Look at this in verse 17.
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy,
or that's Jeremiah,
the prophet, saying,
in Ramah there was a voice heard,
lamentation,
and weep in a great morning.
Rachel weeped before her children
and would not be comforted because they are not.
So because they are not is because they're not alive.
They've been killed.
It's interesting that it mentioned Rachel here.
If you guys know the significance of Rachel,
I think it's just symbolic of,
what was the man's name that married Rachel?
The two sisters.
It was Jacob.
Yeah, Jacob.
Yeah, they became Israel.
Jacob married Leah.
Leah and Rachel.
And if you remember the story of Rachel,
she was really sad because Leah was having all the children
and she didn't have any children herself
and it brought her great depression,
great sorrow,
and I think that's why symbolically
they use the name of Rachel here
is because it's kind of like Rachel
where she was barren,
but these women in the same way now
have lost their children.
It's even worse, I guess,
they've lost their children.
But again, notice in verse 17,
this was a prophecy of Jeremiah.
So keep your finger there.
Turn to Jeremiah.
Turn to Jeremiah chapter 31.
Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 15.
Because if we just read this in Matthew,
it's a really sad story.
We have these babies being killed,
these mothers weeping in sorrow,
but if we go to Jeremiah,
it actually brings great hope to this story.
Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 15.
I'll just read it now.
Jeremiah 31 verse 15.
It says,
Thus saith the Lord,
a voice was heard in Rehmat,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel weeping for her children,
refused to be comforted for her children
because they were not.
But let's keep reading.
Thus saith the Lord,
refrain thy voice from weeping
and thine eyes from tears,
for thy work shall be rewarded,
saith the Lord,
and they shall come again
from the land of the enemy.
So the Lord says,
Look, you've lost your children,
but you need to stop weeping now.
There's comfort.
I'm bringing you comfort.
You know, it says,
for thy work shall be rewarded.
The work of you very children
have these children.
It's going to be rewarded,
says the Lord.
Okay?
Verse 17.
Sorry,
at the end of verse 16,
it says,
and they shall come again
from the land of the enemy.
So God says,
they're coming back.
Don't worry about it.
They're coming back.
Verse 17.
Just hope in thine end,
saith the Lord,
that thy children shall come again
to their own border.
Okay?
And these children
and these ladies lost
at this point in time,
you know,
God reminds them,
and you know,
I believe,
and I hope you do as well,
the Bible's quite clear about this,
is that little children
that die,
they go to heaven.
Okay?
Every aborted baby,
every miscarriage,
you know,
if you lose children
at a young age,
they're saved.
Okay?
They're saved.
They're going to heaven.
And we understand this
when we note the resurrection
that the dead in Christ
shall rise once again,
the resurrected bodies.
And as we go into the millennial kingdom,
guess what?
This is what we're going to see.
We're going to see
these little children again,
these little children
that King Herod wiped out.
They're going to be brought back
into that land,
and he's just telling the mothers,
don't worry,
they're coming back.
They're going to be back,
and they're going to be ruling
the reign with Christ
forever and ever.
So, you know,
that's what's beautiful
about going back to the Old Testament
to see these little nuggets.
We see how God comforts
these women
with the bride in the Old Testament.
Go back to Matthew chapter 2.
Matthew chapter 2 verse 19.
But when Herod was dead,
behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
Arise and take the young child
and his mother
and go into the land of Israel,
for they are dead
which sought the young child's life.
And he arose
and took the young child
and his mother
and they came into the land of Israel.
But when he had heard
that Achilius did reign in Judea
in the room of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go to the theater.
Notwithstanding being
warned of God in a dream,
he turned aside
into the parks of Galilee.
So let me explain
a couple of things here
just for your Bible knowledge.
So we see Herod,
now he has died.
Now, the history books
generally call this Herod,
Herod the Great.
And we know that he dies here.
But if you guys remember,
what was the name of the man
that beheaded John the Baptist?
That was Herod as well.
And that was Herod as well.
But it's another Herod.
And usually,
I think in the Bible
it calls him Herod the Tetra.
I think that's the label
they give him.
But we see in this verse here,
in verse number,
what we just read there,
in verse number 22,
but when he had heard
that Achilius did reign in Judea
in the room of his father, Herod.
So we see Achilius
is the son of Herod.
And he rules
in the place of Herod.
But what's interesting about this,
and the fact that
secular history lines up
with what the Bible says,
is that Herod had three sons.
Achilius,
what we just saw there,
then Philip was another one,
and his other son was Herod,
the other Herod,
the one that beheaded
John the Baptist.
And if you remember,
the reason why
John the Baptist preaches,
and we're going to cover this,
I think it's chapter 14
I think in this book,
when John the Baptist
preaches against Herod
is because he took
his brother Philip's wife
and married him.
So we see that Herod the Great
had three sons.
Achilius, Herod, and Philip.
And even though the Bible
doesn't really spell this out
for us to say he had three sons,
but secular history
basically confirms
that his kingdom was then,
you know,
the three sons would take
different portions
of this kingdom
and rule there.
And we just see how consistent
the Bible is
and how lined up it is
with secular history.
Anyway,
that was just for information.
Go to verse 23,
in Matthew chapter 2,
verse 23.
It says that he came
and dwelt in a city
called Nazareth,
that he might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophets.
He shall be called a Nazarene.
Okay?
He shall be called a Nazarene.
Now here's another
interesting thing.
Notice in verse 23,
it says which was spoken
by the prophets,
he shall be called a Nazarene.
But did you know
that's not anywhere else
in the scriptures?
That's not found anywhere
in the Old Testament.
A lot of people have
tried to find verses
and be like,
well, this might be the verse
that it's referring to.
Honestly, it's not there.
If you try to find this passage,
it's not there.
So do we have a contradiction
in the Bible?
Is there an error?
What do you reckon?
No, of course,
there wouldn't be a contradiction
in the Bible, would there?
And I think the key thing here
is when you look at verse number 23,
it says that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophets.
Okay, which was spoken by the prophets.
I'm not saying that it was written
by the prophets, was it?
Okay?
Now, some of the things
that the prophets spoke
were written, of course.
Okay, they spoke,
they spoke as a move
by the Holy Ghost
and the things were written.
But other times they spoke,
it's not written.
In fact, if you read
through the Old Testament,
you'll find many prophets
and their names
were sometimes not named
and they didn't have any writings
to their name.
Okay, it wasn't canonized
in scripture by God.
But we can see immediately,
look, it's not a contradiction,
it's not an error,
it's just us.
Now, a lot of times
God's very specific.
It was spoken by the prophets.
Ah, okay, spoken.
I guess this time
it wasn't written.
It's not something
that we can refer back to it.
But yeah, there's no contradiction
there in the Bible.
But I just wanted to,
why was he called an Azarene?
Okay?
Now, oh man,
so many Christians mess this up.
Alright?
So it's not that hard.
Why was he called,
oh let, anyone,
anyone that knows the answer,
they're in verse 23.
If the answer's in verse 23,
why was he called an Azarene?
Very easy.
It's not a trick question.
Anyone wants to answer that one?
I'll let you guys try that.
Yeah, because,
yeah, he grew up in Nazareth, okay?
He grew up in Nazareth
and that's why he's called an Azarene.
Now, a lot of people,
a lot of painters,
they want to depict Jesus Christ.
How do they draw him?
With long hair, right?
With long hair.
And the reason a lot of them do this
is because they read this
and think he's a Nazarite.
Okay?
A Nazarite.
Now, if you guys know what a Nazarite is,
it's not about where they grew up
or where they're from.
A Nazarite would make a vow to God
like Samson.
You know, you read about Samson,
the judge Samson.
He was a Nazarite.
He made a,
there was an oath that he would make to God.
And part of that requirement
is that he would let his hair grow.
That he would not have his razor,
you know, cut his hair.
You know, you know the story,
how he lost his power
when I think he told the Bible
about his power
and how it goes in the long hair
and all that kind of stuff.
And you know,
there was other requirements
that he was not to eat
or drink, eat grapes and other things.
I don't remember
what they all are right now.
But that was a special vow
that was made by a Nazarite.
Okay?
But Jesus was not a Nazarite
and a lot of people get this confused.
And they go,
he must have had long hair
like John the Baptist
and like Samson.
That's how they depict him.
So, you know,
as we go through these
chapter by chapter,
I hope to not just give you,
you know,
just explain some of these verses,
but also show you
where people really mess up
the scriptures.
And you know,
it's really important
for us to understand,
you know,
the story of his birth,
the story of his crucifixion,
the stories that we see in the Bible,
because you know,
Hollywood movies and television
cartoons,
they've got a lot of nice stories,
a lot of good stuff
from the Bible.
And you know,
you might be comfortable
with saying,
hey, I'm gonna let the kids
watch this.
I'm not necessarily against that,
but you need to be aware
that a lot of these stories
are messed up.
A lot of these stories
aren't telling the truth.
And when your kids
open up their Bibles
and start reading this,
like that doesn't line up
with what I remember.
That doesn't line up
with what I saw.
And so I think it's important
as we go through
chapter by chapter
that we do cover
the misconceptions
that we see in scripture
as well.
Alright,
so one last thing
that I want to talk about,
I pretty much covered
that chapter there.
I hope that was interesting
for you,
but one last thing
I want to cover,
just as we're approaching
Christmas,
a lot of people ask me
this question,
a lot of people struggle
with this,
you know,
should Christians
celebrate Christmas?
Should Christians
celebrate Christmas?
Now, take your Bibles,
turn to John chapter 4.
John chapter 4,
verse 24.
John chapter 4,
verse 24.
John chapter 4,
verse 24.
Should Christians
celebrate Christmas?
John chapter 4,
verse 24,
look at this,
it says,
God is a spirit
and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit
and in truth.
Hey, if you want your worship
to be counted,
alright,
there's a lot of
empty and vain worship today.
There's a lot of churches,
a lot of false religions
that believe
they're worshiping God,
they believe
they're singing his praises,
but they're not doing that,
okay,
because they're not
worshiping in spirit
and in truth,
okay.
Now, what does it mean
to worship him in spirit?
Obviously,
it's someone that has
the Holy Spirit,
someone that's been
born of the Holy Ghost,
someone that has
that new man,
hey,
that new man is perfect
before God,
he has the righteousness
of Jesus Christ.
The only people that can
truly worship God
are those that are
in the spirit,
okay,
those that are saved,
those that are born again,
but also,
we need to worship him
in truth,
okay,
worship him in truth,
and there's one big lie
of Christmas,
and by the way,
I'm not against Christmas,
if you want to celebrate
Christmas,
go for it,
even though I celebrated it,
but one big lie
that a lot of kids hear
is not that Santa Claus
is bringing him presents,
I mean,
that's one big lie,
that definitely is one of them,
but one that's quite similar
that has a similar effect,
you know when kids
are being taught
about Santa Claus
and then they hear the truth,
I mean,
you know how parents
are kind of like,
they think it's true,
they think Santa Claus
is bringing them gifts,
when kids find out
that Santa Claus
is not real,
they're devastated,
okay,
maybe they're devastated
because they had
all this love for Santa Claus
to begin with,
but they're also devastated,
many of you have told me this,
I didn't grow up
in belief in Santa Claus,
but they're devastated
that parents lied to them,
they're like,
why did they lie to me,
why didn't they just tell me
it came from them,
you know,
what a silly thing
to be lying about,
right,
but one thing that Christian
parents sometimes do
with their children
is tell their children
that Jesus was born
on December the 25th,
okay,
December 25th,
now I don't have time
to go through all this today,
all right,
but it's very,
very unlikely,
okay,
I'm not saying that it's
totally out of the realm
of possibility,
but it's very,
very unlikely
that Jesus was born
on December the 25th,
okay,
so please be mindful,
if we want to worship God
in spirit and in truth,
then we do that,
you know,
no problem,
let's celebrate his birth
on December the 25th,
but just be mindful
of your children
to explain to them
that probably not likely,
probably not even
the right season
that he was born,
okay,
but it's not so much
about the day,
it's about the celebration,
you know,
we're celebrating
the birth of Christ
and there's really
nothing wrong with that
in and of itself,
okay,
to take the time
to worship him,
to celebrate his birth
and he came into the world
and ultimately that he would
be that sacrifice
that we know about,
the free gift of God,
hey,
that's a great thing
to celebrate,
you know,
and if you want to do that
on December the 26th,
go for it,
if you want to do it
on February the 10th,
go for it, right,
but just be mindful,
look,
when we worship God,
we need to make sure
we do it in spirit
and in truth
and this is why
I wanted to cover
just a little bit
about the wise men
because a lot of people
think the wise men
were there
at the birth of Christ,
okay,
but that's not the truth,
okay,
that's not the truth,
so,
yeah,
please be aware of that,
now,
turn to Psalm 118,
because then the question is,
well,
then you put the other,
you got the other extreme,
the other extreme is like,
you know,
it's sinful,
it's wicked
to celebrate Christmas,
it's wicked to come
on December the 25th
and have anything
to do with Christmas,
because a lot of people
recognize that a lot
of the Christmas traditions
have pagan roots,
there's a lot of pagan roots
to Christmas traditions
and I'm not going to go
through all that,
if you guys are interested,
you can look it up yourself,
all right,
there are some pagan roots,
you know,
such as people that worship
the sun on December the 25th,
okay,
the actual sun itself,
and be like,
well,
you know,
if we worship Christ's birth
on December the 25th,
you know,
we're participating in the sin,
we're participating in pagan
worship,
they say,
okay,
but look,
is there anything sinful
about a date,
is there anything sinful
about December the 25th,
is there,
what date do people do
Halloween,
is there a tug or something,
I don't know,
is there anything sinful
about that date in of itself,
of course not,
look at this in Psalm 119 verse 24,
Psalm 118 verse 24,
it says,
this is the day,
which day,
doesn't matter,
this is the day,
which the Lord hath made,
we will rejoice and be glad in it,
hey,
every day is a day that the Lord hath made,
and what's the requirement,
that we rejoice and be glad,
that God has given us another day,
all right,
so please,
don't be the Baptist Grish,
that tries to steal Christmas
from everybody else,
no man,
I can't believe you're celebrating
Christmas,
don't you know,
it's a wicked,
faking old day,
hey look,
it's a day that God has made,
and I'm gonna rejoice,
I'm gonna be glad,
you know,
whatever the day was Halloween,
I remember just driving,
we'll go to church,
we'll go to church service,
we'll see all these kids,
you know,
these girls dressed like whores,
and these little kids
dressed up like devils,
and I'm like,
oh man,
I'm really sad about that,
I'm going to church,
I'm going to worship him
and praise him,
I'm going to rejoice,
because this is the day
that God has made,
you think there's something sinful
with me going to church
and rejoicing and celebrating
on that day of Halloween,
of course not,
okay,
the day belongs to the Lord,
just because certain people,
you know,
do wicked things on those days,
does not mean that it's wicked
in and of itself for us
to celebrate the Lord,
okay,
there's nothing sinful
with celebrating the birth of Christ,
okay,
there's nothing sinful
about getting your friends
and your family together,
and enjoying a nice meal,
there's nothing sinful
about giving presents,
alright,
I mean,
the Father gives us,
you know,
what's it say,
every good gift
coming from the Father above,
you know,
and we know that Jesus Christ
is our free gift,
we know that he is our gift
for salvation as well,
don't we,
there's nothing wrong
with giving gifts,
and is there anything wrong
with celebrating Christ's birth,
giving gifts,
and eating together with people
on December 25th,
which is the day
that the Lord has made,
and he commands us
to rejoice
and be glad in that,
of course not,
okay,
and so please,
you know,
all I'm saying is,
it's your call,
you know,
how you want to celebrate
a Christmas
that's up to each family,
I don't have a set rule,
you know,
this Christmas day,
December 25th,
we're driving back to Queensland,
and I guess we'll sing
some carols in the band
or something,
I mean,
that's how we celebrate Christmas,
you know,
I'm not that bothered about it,
I don't take too much pride
in that,
I mean,
I don't take too much
interest in it,
but at the same time,
you know,
it's a great time
because a lot of people
have time off work
to get together
and celebrate,
nothing better than
to celebrate Jesus Christ,
I think it's a wonderful thing,
okay,
so I hope that answers
any questions about
should we celebrate Christmas,
because,
you know,
there are two extremes,
there's the extreme
where you're celebrating Christ,
but you're not looking in truth,
then that worship
won't be received
by the Lord,
but then you've got
the other extreme,
it's like,
ah,
okay,
so,
I'm all for it,
as long as we're worshiping
the Lord,
in spirit,
and in truth.
Alright,
let's pray.