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All right, so right there we saw in Matthew chapter 2 we saw the coming of the wise men Following the star to the east and as they came they wanted to come and and see this this babe this king of the Jews That would be born amen and we see there in verse number one You know the title for the sermon tonight brethren is be wise this Christmas be wise This Christmas and I was thinking about putting together a Christmas Christmas message obviously I wanted to look at the story of the birth of Christ and I had a look at last year's sermon on Christmas it wasn't me preaching it was brother David that preached and I had already put my sermon together But when I had a look at what he preached He took the same passages and preached from the same passages a year ago now as I was a little bit concerned I thought oh no, you know am I going to just repeat a similar Christmas message, but I listened briefly to his sermon It's quite different to what I'm preaching Tonight anyway, so, you know, it's good that we can take a multiple lessons multiple applications from God's Word But let's start there in verse number one. Once again, Matthew chapter 2 in verse number 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 So as I said the title for the sermon tonight is be wise this Christmas what we want to look at today is see how the wise Men responded to the birth of Christ. I mean if the Bible refers or who's in the rate of the Bible It's the Holy Spirit now God, of course used men to pen down his words But if the Holy Spirit sees fit to refer to these men as wise men then surely they are wise Surely, you know, there must be a reason why they referred to as wise Yes, because they could see by the signs and the writing of the scriptures that Jesus Christ was due to be born That's what gives them wisdom and so we want to take the lessons and say well we want to be wise as well I want to be a wise pastor. I want to be a wise father, you know, I want to be a wise husband I want my children to be wise children I want this church to be made up of wise people And so I think there are plenty of verses that we can look at here and take the lessons from these wise men Look at verse number two Why did they come it says saying hey, they were asking the question. Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship Him. Hey, why do they travel all the way to Jerusalem? They wanted to see Jesus Christ I wanted to see who the king of the Jews and they wanted to come to worship Him point number one brethren to be a wise man or a wise person is you have to be a worshipper of Jesus Christ now listen this teaches us the deity of Christ once again Because the only one that we should worship is the Lord God Amen, not something not some human being not a man that is just a prophet or just a good man Of course, we don't worship men. We worship God Hey, these people knew exactly who was going to be born king of the Jews. They knew that was God Therefore they came to worship the king they came to worship God and some point number one brethren. We need to learn how to worship God This is why you know not not so long ago when I was preaching about church and and you know When we open in a word of prayer when we open we sing our first song and we we come in We all have that opening prayer brethren. Don't forget to come and worship God. That's all that matters We come to worship God give him honor give him praise. Okay, just thank him for the for the great blessings Thank you for for his salvation. Thank you for our church. Just give God worship Okay, just give him the worship and by doing that brethren we show ourselves to be wise People now what I want to turn to brethren is please turn to Keep your finger there, but let's go to our John chapter 4 Let's go to John chapter 4 in verse number 23 because we want to learn how to worship God Right. We want to make sure if we put the effort in to give God thanks and to give God praise we want to make sure that the effort is for his worship that he receives our worship and In John chapter 4 we have a great story there of the Samaritan woman at the well You know quite often when I refer to stories of Jesus Christ It surprised me how many times I go back to the Samaritan at the well Because there are so many great truths as so many great truths But let's take one great truth out of this story then in John chapter 4 verse number 23 Jesus Christ says these words, but the hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth for the father seek of such to worship him Hey, who does God want worship from he wants worship from said there the true worshipers Now brethren if it says true worshipers What what does what does Jesus even have to say true worshipers? Why doesn't he just say worshipers? Why does he say true worshipers? I'll tell you why because there are many people who claim the name of Christian Okay, who fall under the umbrella of Christianity that come and worship God, but they are false worshipers Okay, so there is something known as a false worship You know you could put your heart into worshiping God, but it could all be false It could be a worship that God does not receive he only receives worship from his true worshipers And so we need to learn how to worship truly and how do we do that? It said there when the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth Okay, so those are the two elements that we must have in our worship to God for it to be counted to God We must worship him in spirit and in truth look at verse number 24 It says God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth and So brethren if you want to come and worship him we must worship him in spirit and in truth Okay, so how do we understand that well number one? Let's understand the spirit Okay, so first of all in order for you to spiritually worship God you must be someone that is born of the spirit Right because the the the non-believer the one who is still dead in their sins that is not saved You know the Bible says that this they are spiritually dead You know someone that is spiritually dead someone that is unsaved cannot worship God All right, so number one you must be saved in order to worship God You must have a revived living spirit in you that is able to communicate with the Lord God Okay, but secondly now that you are saved Okay, isn't it true that we have the battle between the flesh and the spirit? We have the battle between the old man and the new man the flesh wants to sin the flesh wants to Please itself the flesh wants to do whatever you want to do. It's rebellious against God But then if you're saved you also have a new man the spirit right and that spirit wants to please God that spirit will always Seek to love God deserve God and unfortunately for us until we receive our new resurrected bodies We're going to have that constant battle between spirit and flesh and so you need to understand that even though you're saved And you might be in church tonight. You know you could be literally in the flesh right now Rebellious you know and you know seeking your own pleasure You know you've only come to church because you've been forced you don't want to be here Maybe maybe your mind is on other things you know might be in the flesh But you're praising God you're singing seeing you're singing songs, right? It seems like on the outside you worshiping God, but you're not doing it in spirit You're doing it in the flesh. You know we can do a lot of things in the flesh We can even go soul winning in the flesh Okay, it's possible, but you'll only be successful in soul winning if you go out in the spirit All right, so that's why every time we you know when we come to God We you know I I you know we need to ask God to fill us with his spirits right to serve him in the spirit But not only are we to do these things in the spirit so brethren let me just stop there for a minute Okay, so people that go to church that are non-believers They think they're coming to worship God in fact they do in in their you know estimation They are worshiping God, but they are not true worshipers. They are false worshipers because they're not even saints Secondly don't forget you can be a false worshiper, too If you come to church in the flesh you know you come because you're forced or whatever no you know come Seeking to know the Spirit of God come Seeking to know his word and to grow from his word and come to worship God in spirit But then it says and in truth in truth and once again You know there are many men that stand behind pulpits today, and they're not preaching truth Okay, truth is not part of the equation. They can't preach in either falsehoods You know a false gospel is not going to be worship of God when the preacher is preaching a false gospel Right or they're preaching from some false Bible version That's corrupted God's not going to receive worship from that or they come and they just hear instead of the wisdom of God They come here in the wisdom of man the knowledge of man instead of hearing from the words of God Hey, you know a lot of things that men say can be true, but it's also going to be mixed up with things that are false Intentionally or unintentionally there's going to be falsehoods in the wisdom of man Hey, we ought to come not seeking and knowing the truth of God's word And so if we can apply you know coming to God and worshiping in spirit and applying the truth brethren God tells us that we're true worshipers of God true worshipers of God meaning that he's going to receive the worship from us Can you please go to Matthew 15 verse number 7 Matthew 15 and verse number 7 We want to make sure that our worship to God reaches his ears amen to be to receive you know I have to please him I want him to look down that blessed up at the church and be pleased You know, but look at Matthew chapter 15 verse 7 please Matthew 15 verse number 7 Let's Have another view on this this time God speaking to the Pharisees or Jesus Christ speaking to the Pharisees here And he says in Matthew 15 verse 7 Matthew 15 verse 7. He says to the Pharisees ye hypocrites Hey, what makes them a hypocrite? Well, let's learn about it. What makes them hypocrite? Well, did Isaiah's prophesy of you saying This people draw from nigh unto me with their mouth and honor of me with their lips But look at this but their hearts is far from me But in vain they do worship me Hey, do they worship God? Yeah, but in vain it's empty. It's worthless It's not counsel to God for worship. It's in vain. Hey, they're opening their mouths. They're they're singing with their lips They're giving God thanks out of their out of the lips, but in their heart they are far from God and God says hey That's that's vain worship that's vain worship like I told you you can be in church singing songs going soul-winning be doing many things Appearing to worship God on the outside, but inwardly no one sees the inward No one sees the inward right except for the Lord God inwardly You might be very far from God and if that's your case and you're in church and you're singing Hey just as we were singing before if that's you and your heart is far from God You are a false worshiper right now of the Lord God. So this is something we need to fix Alright, if this is your situation Not only that verse number nine, but in vain they do worship me What do they do teach in for doctrines the commandments of men? So what do they do as I explained to you already? Hey, we ought to come worshiping God in spirit and in truth, but instead of preaching God's truth instead of preaching God's doctrine They come and preach the commandments of men. Okay things that might sound good on the outside, but it's not what God said in his word Okay, so we have to be careful especially as preachers they get behind the pulpit there's nothing wrong with having your opinions Okay, but we don't come here to preach our opinions. We come here to preach God's truth Okay, we come here preaching the commandments. Sorry the doctrines of God not the commandments of men Okay, so that's something we have to be aware of in order for God to receive worship from Blessed Hope Baptist Church Okay, so point number one brethren to be wise this Christmas be a true worshipper of God, okay Let's keep going. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 2 and verse number 3 Matthew chapter 2 and verse number 3 So don't forget the the the wise men came to Jerusalem right they're asking where is the king of the Jews? I guess they're expecting this big parade They're expecting like, you know, here is the king of the Jews, right? They're expecting to walk into the you know Whatever maybe palace there might be in that day and age right and say surely the king of the Jews must be around here Because Jerusalem would be the logical location to go. It's the capital city. That's where the king is All right That's where the place is and look at verse number three 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 for thus it is written by the Prophet So the wise men come to Jerusalem Expecting that Jesus would be in Jerusalem makes sense. He's the king of the Jews and so but then he's not there So that so Herod gets all the wise, you know So he gets the scribes gets those that know their Bibles or is that right the Bibles and the and the priests Hey, where was where is the Messiah supposed to be born? They said well the Prophet said is it going to be born in Bethlehem? Okay, that that's a bit unusual for for a king to be born in another another place like that. Look at verse number six What did the what did the Prophet write about verse number six? It says 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 Okay, so point number two that I have for you to be wise this Christmas. You have to read God's Word Okay, the scribes and the fan sorry the Pharisees the scribes and the priests came together and they said yeah the Prophet wrote about it He wrote about it He's going to be born in Bethlehem and they pointed to this passage now that passage that they referred to is from Micah I'll just read it to you Micah 5 2 which 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 look at this ruler It says who's going forth have been from old from ever Lasting and so this king of the Jews is not one that is just literally came to being You know in the womb of Mary or at his birth no, he's from everlasting Hey, you know, the Son of God is an everlasting God. Okay, he's everlasting. Hey, he's the eternal Son of God Okay, he didn't become the Son of God at some point in time. He's eternal. He's from everlasting All right But notice the place to have referred to to sort of to figure out that he would be born in Bethlehem Was found by the prop in in the writings of the Prophet Micah Now the wise men did not know this, okay This is one area where they were lacking in knowledge, but the Bible still refers to them as wise men Okay, this tells me a couple of things number one. Maybe they did not read all their Bibles, but here's the difference You know, we think about our Bibles because we've got the whole canon of Scripture, you know, we've got all 66 books You know, we have it preserved for us in the English language Amen, but here's you know, but in this time, it wasn't easy to have a Bible Okay, well we think of the Bible as this one book don't we but it's not like that You know, the Bible has 66 books and so more likely these men had different books You know bits and pieces of different scriptures. It's very unlikely that they had the entire 66 board obviously did not have the New Testament because it's not written yet But it's unlikely that they had the whole Old Testament in their hands Okay, and so, you know, I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt. They are wise men It's likely they did not have the writings of the prophet Micah, okay, but here's what I want you to understand Okay, and I'm glad there's an area in the wise men that had a little bit of a failing Okay, because they went to the wrong place. They went to Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem And so this gives us encouragement to know hey we can grow in wisdom as well In fact, in fact, we can be wiser than the wise men because we have the whole Bible in our hands Okay, and so point number two in order for you to be wise this Christmas you have to read God's Word praise God for these chief priests and Scribes, I guess some of these men were godly some of these men did put their study in they did their barbering They knew exactly where Jesus Christ would be born All right. Now, can you please turn to Matthew chapter 4 just a couple of chapters across Matthew chapter 4 and verse number 1 Matthew chapter 4 and verse number 1 And Let me just tell you brethren in in my experience in life, you know, I'm almost 40 years old next next year I'll be 40, you know I've learnt a lot of things I've gained a lot of knowledge right whether that's with a family Whether that's in your career whether that's in schooling. It's just your life experience I feel like I've gained a lot of knowledge, right? But one thing I've realized and I think anybody here if you're honest will realize that whatever wisdom We think we may have Come so short compared to the wisdom of God. Okay with the wisdom of God is amazing You know when you live in accordance to God's Word, he's going to take care of you He's going to provide I've never seen God, you know Not complete a promise that he has for us in in his word God always comes through you know, and when I look at people that destroy their lives You know believers or non-believers and they had they are in real problems and they're you know Divorced and they're remarried and and that they have all these kinds of situations and the kids become rebellious You can always see why that there are there are places where they did not follow after God's wisdom Okay, it's always the case and you know, sometimes I've done things in my life You know, I've put certain things into practice that I didn't learn from the Bible itself But I just thought it was a good idea and it was successful Well those things eventually I would go to my Bible and figure out hey, that was a biblical principle No wonder it works. No wonder it succeeded because that's what God says in his word You know, it's amazing. God's Word is full of wisdom and you know, yes, we have our own experiences We have our own knowledge, but brethren always be humble enough to admit I could be wrong. God's Word is always right That's where the true wisdom is. Matthew chapter 4 verse number 1 Matthew chapter 4 verse number 1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil and When he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights He was afterward and hungered and when the tempter came to him and he said if thou be the Son of God Command that these stones be made bread and brethren that's what Satan is like He's gonna see a part in your life where where you're weak and look is he is he saying something evil here? Is it like, you know, if someone's not been eating for 40 days You know the devil comes hey eat up, you know, you're hungry. You're weak Why don't you eat and that's how the devil is right? He always makes sin or rebelling against God's Word Appetizing it doesn't look dangerous at the beginning right, but it does it does lead to rebellion against God But I just want to show you how Jesus Christ responds there in verse number four But he answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God and Brethren, you've got an every word Bible in your hands You've got every word that God has said you've got them in your hands And so what Jesus Christ is saying here just like we would eat bread or we eat You know every day of our lives to nourish our bodies our spiritual being our soul Requires the spiritual food and that spiritual food is the the Word of God It's the Bible Brethren if you don't pick up your Bible in time You're gonna find yourself being hungry not hungry in the flesh, but hungry in the spirit Okay, and you're gonna find yourself lacking knowledge lacking wisdom You know having hardships that you otherwise would not have had Should you have just eaten up your spiritual food Brethren we need our spiritual nourishment every day You know our physical bodies we often feed at breakfast lunch and dinner. Maybe some snacks between you know You know we we give our flesh a lot, but this flesh will perish Amen, it's gonna perish. You know the Bible says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God Okay, but we give so much attention to this flesh, and how often do we neglect the spiritual man the new man Okay, and the neglection comes from not picking up our Bibles and reading them, and I'm thankful that you're in church today It shows me that you want to be fed You know you want to hear God's Word the new man wants to hear it again the flesh doesn't want to hear it But the new man loves hearing God's Word the new man loves absorbing that that beautiful You know food that comes from the Lord, and so you know let me remind you You know this is just one point you know read God's Word you wouldn't be wise this Christmas read God's Word You know read it to your family You know pick up the Christmas story the birth of Christ and read it to your loved ones You know that's a great way to bond together You know it's a great way to make sure that your children and your family receive the nourishment coming from God's Word If you can please turn back to Matthew chapter 2 and verse number 7 Matthew chapter 2 and verse number 7 So point number sorry let me just go through those two points so far in order for you to be wise this Christmas number 1 You have to be a true worshipper Worshipper of God number 2 you have to read God's Word it would have told them Bethlehem not Jerusalem You know if they had done a little bit more study, or they got themselves that book They would have known that but back in verse number chapter number 2 verse number 7 Matthew chapter 2 and verse number 7 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 Now this is a very famous story. I think you all know that Herod does not want to worship Jesus Okay, because he was troubled by the news all of Jerusalem was troubled at the news There's someone else claiming to be the king. Hey, we've got King Herod here. You know what's going on Okay so we know that you know as we read for the chapter there that Herod would seek to kill that child and Every child that was two years old and under would be killed so he had you know Bad plans he had wicked plans right, but did the wise men know that he had wicked plans? No, okay, okay, yeah You know, thank you for sending us on our way to Bethlehem. You've given us the information we need now You're sending us to Bethlehem You want us to go and make sure that we find him then we come back report to you so you can go and worship him as well, okay Now, you know, this one is obviously controversial especially in this day and age, but let's let's keep going there verse number 9 It says when they had heard the king You know point number three even though this is controversial but point number three in order for you to be wise this this Christmas they honored the king They honored the authorities that were in that country or that nation at that point in time Right, they came they reported to the king king said alright go to Bethlehem come back, you know find him And they're like, yes, sir. We'll go ahead and do that. Thank you for allowing us to go in our way You've given us the information we need. Hey, they were obedient to the authorities that they had over them And again, you know, I didn't really pick this passage to say that but I think that's quite clear by the actions of the wise men Hey, even though they were from another nation. They still on the authority, even though that authority had wicked plans They didn't know, you know, they're just going through the business. They're going through to worship Christ their focus is on Christ They decided hey, let's honor the king, you know first Peter chapter 2 verse number 17 reads honor all men Love the Brotherhood fear God honor the king honor the king. Hey, that's a Bible passage I know it's unpopular during restrictions It's unpopular during COVID-19 to respect and honor the authorities is very hard for me You know, I don't say to you. Hey, we need to listen to your thought I don't say that easily because it's very frustrating to me, especially now with the recent cases You know in New South Wales again and the new restrictions that have come across we'll speak about that after the service, right? But anyway, let's think about that But you know what the commandment that we see of God from his word is that we ought to honor them Hey, we see these people that are wise they saw fit to honor this king Even though he was wicked even though he wanted to King kill. Sorry the king of the Jews All right now I don't want to go over that again because I've just preaching that not that long ago But point number three brethren to be wise this Christmas honor the authorities that you have over you and for children You know who your authority is your parents honor your parents respect their authorities, you know, if you're part of this church I'm your authority, you know, I appreciate the respect and the love that you guys give me as your pastor again That is we're in the boundaries of this church. If you if you work a job. Hey honor your employer Okay, they might have wicked plans like Kara did right? They might have they might be a very They might not be very nice to you whatsoever. They might you know, they might not pay you properly They might be you know, having plans to to cause you to stumble in your workplace Hey, but the the responsibility that we have to be wise to honor the authorities that we have over us Let's keep reading there verse number 10 verse number 10 When they saw the star that's when the wise men saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy Hey, what's the fourth point to be wise this Christmas rejoice Rejoice be happy. Hey rejoice when you you know, you know have fellowship with God When you come to his house and hear God's Word, hey does the time to be happy and to rejoice? You know when it comes to Christmas December 25th You know if you if you get out there and you and you sort of figure, you know learn some things about Christmas Without a shadow of a doubt, you know, it has pagan roots without a shadow of a doubt Okay, you know, I'm not here to say that everything about Christmas is wonderful and magical They're probably definitely not maybe there is some magical elements, but there are some you know pagan roots to to Christmas and so some people, you know decide well, you know December 25th must be evil because apparently, you know They worship the Sun God on this 7th 25th or something like that and saying well if you celebrate Christmas you're worshiping the Sun Okay, that's what people say, right? But here's the thing brethren. You know what we'll see the wise men When they found the star and they knew that this was going to point them to Jesus Christ What they did was they rejoiced were they rejoicing at the star they come to worship the star Is that what was important to them the star? No, they were rejoicing because they knew the star was going to lead them to Jesus Christ Okay, and brethren that's what we ought to rejoice in in Christmas Psalm 118 verse 24 says this is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoice and be glad in it You say what day did God make what day did he create? Every day that you live brethren is a day that God has made and if it's a day that God has made Bill rejoice and be glad in it Okay, I don't care if it's Halloween. Okay, if that's it, you know, if it's how what day is Halloween Is there a day is it always October 31st? You know what October 31st Halloween? I'm gonna be glad and rejoice on October 31st. I'm gonna rejoice for Jesus Christ because he created that day I'm not gonna rejoice about the wicked things that go on in that day or other days of the year I think I don't care about what the wicked are doing All I care about is that God has given me a day and I'm gonna rejoice in it You know what if our nation stops on December 25th for a brief moment to think about Christmas to think about Christ Hey, praise God. Praise God Okay for a moment our nation has their mind set on God and quite often you'll find as you did was was one salvation say brother You know what people are usually a little bit more receptive around Christmas time Okay, they're more understanding that people look at might come and give the gospel speak about Jesus Christ people generally I have found this in my experience So winning during Christmas that people generally a little bit more receptive during Christmas than other times of the year And once again, they're a little bit more receptive in Easter as well as people come but especially Christmas for some reason people Love Christmas, right? They love the gifts things like that. But of course, we're focused on the gift of God which comes through Jesus Christ Can you please keep your finger there and go to James chapter 1 verse number 2 Go to James chapter 1 and verse number number 2 Because this Christmas brethren now, I don't know. I mean you keep this to yourself I don't know how you're celebrating that but you know, you're only supposed to have 10 people in your house or something like that I don't know there's some some new some new restrictions right in New South Wales and these things are frustrating, you know people have plans people had things to do and and It messes up Christmas and people love Christmas people love spending time together with their families during Christmas Nothing wrong with spending time with your family your friends. Okay, but James chapter 1 verse number 2 says my brethren Counted all joy. Oh Counted all joy when things are going good Well, yeah, that's that's a great time to counter all joy But is that what we're gonna read here my brethren counted all joy when you fall into diverse Temptations Knowing this that the trying of your faith work of patience You say pastor Kevin what was man, you know, if you can look at 2020 and can rejoice in 2020 What can you rejoice in I think what I can rejoice in and I don't know about all of you, but my patience has Increased my I've had to learn how to be patient Okay, and look I had my tickets purchased for another trip to the Sunshine Coast on the 30th of this month I had all my flights booked During January to get out there every Wednesday to go up to see the brethren all my flights are cancelled Now for a brief period Brevin, I was very frustrated Only through your mind that our Lord you've been teaching me a lot of patience this year I guess this is the next level of learning patience And you know what if you're gonna teach me patience Lord during this year Then I'm gonna have joy because you're working in my life and brethren, you know what next next Thursday I'm gonna preach about 2020 and I'm gonna tell you why 2020 was a great year Okay, so get ready for that sermon next week. There's a lot of reasons to rejoice in 2020 We just have to find what that is and just understand that God is allowing us to go for challenging times To work patience in us patience Look at verse number four in James chapter 1 verse 4 But let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect an entire Wanting nothing. So when we learn patience We actually learn how to be content how to be happy in the situation that we find ourselves in You know, even when our plans are dashed and and you know the ideas and the projects that we had fall apart We still can find patience and we can find Contentment in the Lord knowing that with patience comes this perfect an entire man. Okay now look at verse number five It's really interesting that verse number five follows up this because it says this if any of you lack wisdom So what are we learning tonight? We learn how to be wise on Christmas if we're lacking wisdom What is this saying if it follows straight after that right it's saying that if you are struggling with patience if you find yourself getting Frustrated with all the 20 20 things that are going on. It says you're lacking wisdom Okay, as you gain patience, you're gaining wisdom. Okay, if any of you lack wisdom now this we want to be wise So what do we do if we like wisdom? let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and Upbraideth not and it shall be given him Brethren, I don't know how you all are because as I said, I'm just honest with you I'm still living frustrated about everything. Okay, but I know that God is working patience in me He's trying to work a little bit more patience. I need it. I need more patience Okay, but if you're like me and you're a little bit frustrated about everything that's going on listen We're lacking wisdom. We need a bit more wisdom We need to go to God and ask him for wisdom and he's going to give it to us liberally freely God wants us to have wisdom. So when we go through difficult times Brethren we can be patient Okay, when we're lacking patience We're lacking the wisdom that God will give us to understand how he's using that situation To work in our lives to make us this perfect an entire man for him. All right, so Let's go back to Matthew. Sorry. Yeah, Matthew chapter 2. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 2 Point number 4 brethren is we ought to rejoice and remember count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations Boy 2020 ought to be a time when we rejoice the most Can you be honest and say that's true about me? I have rejoiced most in 2020 than all the years that have come before because it's been the most challenging year. I Think if we said that maybe we would fall short of that Okay, but that's why that's why we get challenging time so we can learn how to rejoice even during those difficult times But Matthew chapter 2 in verse number 11 Matthew chapter 2 verse number 11 It says when they would come into the house they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped him and When they had opened their treasures they presented unto him gifts gold and frankincense and myrrh So brethren the next thing that we learn here in order for us to be wise men wise people We need to bring God our gifts or let me just rephrase it this way. We need to bring forth God our sacrifices You know God wants us to sacrifice to him He wants us to give of ourselves to him now these wise men they came and they brought these expensive gifts gold Frankincense myrrh, you know very expensive ointments and of course gold there now if you can please Let's turn again. Keep your finger there. Let's turn to Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 in verse number 1 You might say well pastor Kevin. I I'm not that rich. I haven't got the gold I haven't got frankincense and myrrh to give to the Lord God What is it that God expects me to give to him as my gifts or as my sacrifices? Because we want to worship him amen Romans chapter 12 in verse number 1 Romans chapter 12 and verse number 1 The Bible reads in Romans chapter 12 and verse number 1 I Beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living Sacrifice, you know what God wants from you brethren. What does God want you to give him your body? He wants you to him to give of yourself give it as a living sacrifice. Look at this holy Acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service The Bible saying here is not asking more of us than what we can give is not asking us something unreasonable He wants us to give of ourselves. What is that living sacrifice? Something that is holy. What does it mean to be holy to be set apart? Okay to be set apart now. We ought to be different from this world. We ought to be different from False religion we ought to be different from false worshipers of God, right? We ought to be a People that are that are holy to God that are separated unto God. We ought to be different from this world I like it when people say to me you're different You know, I like it when people look at our large family when we walk around we have been You know the 11 kids with us and people look at us and go wow, what's going on there? I kind of like it brethren because it's different from the world Okay, God wants us to be holy Acceptable unto God and so brethren he wants us to present ourselves and live a clean and pure life As I've told you before, you know, we're gonna sin every day of our lives You know whether it's in the body whether it's in the mind in our hearts We're gonna sin against the Lord But that's not you know We're not we ought not to just get comfortable in our sin and say well I know I'm gonna sin to the day I die God therefore I'm gonna I'm happy to stay how I am No, we ought to work on being holy. We ought to work on on being that sacrifice that living sacrifice unto God and So brethren, you know, would you offer yourself today to God if you could and if you look back at what you got up to today Maybe you committed certain sins and certain acts. Would you be comfortable presenting your body to God as a living sacrifice right now? You say pastor Kevin already messed up. I've already sinned Well, that's why I've always reminded you guys when you sin you go and confess it to the Lord You go humbly before him and say it's God. I'm sorry. I've messed up again. Lord I want to be a clean holy vessel for you I want to present my body a living sacrifice to you. And so brethren you don't need to bring Expensive things just bring yourself. God wants you he wants to use you. He wants you to serve him in your body Can you please turn to Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 15 turn to Hebrews 13 and verse number 15 What other sacrifice can we give to God Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 15? Hebrews 13 and verse 15 the Bible reads By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise To God continually that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name So, you know what when we give God thanks when we just turn around and say God. Thank you God says that's a sacrifice. That's a sacrifice that he wants us to give just saying Thank you God with our lips just for everything that he's given us Sometimes that could be for singing that could be just by answer prayer God's done something for you say God. Thank you for answering my prayer. Hey, that is your sacrifice of Thanksgiving it's a it's a sacrifice and praise to God the fruit of your lips he wants But as we looked at before brethren we saw that we can praise him with our lips But our hearts can be far from God. So just remember that just remember that just because you're you're praising God with your lips Keep in mind that your heart has to be right with God. Okay, we ought to give God. Thanks Philippians chapter 4 now, let's turn to Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 16 Philippians chapter 4 verse number 16. I'm sure while you're turning there brethren I'm sure the minimum easiest thing you can do is just give God Thanks, you know for every day is given you for the blessings that you have for the for that the fact that your needs have Been met, you know that food has been on the table. There's always a reason that we can give God Thanks, and you know what if you're not in the habit of praying before eating Let me encourage you to do so before you eat of your food. Just give God. Thanks God. Thank you for your provision Thank you that I can feel my belly today. Thank you for giving me my need that is a sacrifice That is well pleasing unto God It's amazing that God just accepts our the words of our mouth as long as our hearts are right with him But Philippians chapter 4 verse number 16 How else can we offer Something of ourselves to God when Philippians chapter 4 verse number 16 It says for even in Thessalonica you sent once and again unto my necessity So let me just stop there Paul is writing of course the Philippian Church. That's why it's called the Philippines Okay, but he says look when I was in Thessalonica when he was serving God over there He says that you sent again unto my necessity So the Church of Philippi was making sure that Paul had the resources He needed in order to serve God in Thessalonica look at verse number 17 not because I desire a gift But I desire fruits they may that may abound to your accounts Look what he says in verse number 18, but I have all and abound. He says look. I've got plenty. I'm doing well I am full haven't received of Epaphorite Epaphorite Ditus the things which were sent from you an order of a sweet smell of this a sacrifice acceptable well pleasing to God and so the Thessalonica Church sent this man with Financial help with the needs to Paul to serve in the church there in Thessalonica And Paul says that which you sent is an order of a sweet smell a sacrifice Acceptable well pleasing to God you know how else we can offer our sacrifices to God By giving to the work of God by giving to your local church by giving you know And it's hard for me to say this because every time I say this people think and there's pastor Kevin once again preaching about money You know he must be you know must be you know you know greedy for money Not at all what did Paul say not because I desire gifts, but I desire fruit They may abound to your accounts You know what the more we do as a church the more souls that get saved and you know by the by the given You know we can afford a building we can afford through things Tracks Bibles DVDs we can do many things with what God has given us to do a work for him and Paul says this is a sacrifice Acceptable well pleasing to God Okay, look. I don't say that because I want your money. Okay pastors got to get paid so he's asking you pay look I just I just want you to have exactly what Paul spoke about there that you would have fruit They may abound to your accounts, okay? Now let's go back to Matthew chapter 2 and verse number 12 Matthew chapter 2 and verse number 12, please Matthew chapter 2 and verse number 12 So let me just go through those points so far To be wise this Christmas number one. We have to be true worshipers of God number two We must read God's Word every day number three. We have to honor the authorities over us number four We ought to rejoice every day that God has given us number five bring forth your gifts or your sacrifices unto God and let's finish up here in verse number 12 Matthew chapter 2 and verse number 12 it says and being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod they Departed into their own country and other way. Hey Herod told them come back and tell me where you found Jesus At the beginning they obeyed right they went Expecting to come back until Herod, but then God steps in and says you know what that Herod's up to no good Okay, that Herod's going to seek to kill the Lord Jesus Christ and so God tells the wise men go another way The sixth point in order for you to be obedient Sorry to be wise this Christmas number six is to be obedient to God Obedient to God hey they will put into a situation to obey Herod or do I obey God Herod wants us back God says no don't go that way Okay, what do they do they said no? We're going to be obedient to God and brethren you know what in order for you to be wise this Christmas You need to learn how to be obedient okay, and Your flesh is naturally rebellious Okay, your flesh is naturally rebellious to any authority that you have whether it's a man and to God okay. It's naturally Rebellious, but these people you know they just finished worshiping God I'm sure they're full of the Spirit of God that they're praising God they're rejoicing right there Thankful they can see the king of the Jews right they're full of the Spirit. God says don't go that way They're like absolutely Lord. Yes, sir. We'll go the way you asked us to go. They were obedient to God please go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 and verse number 5 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 and verse number 5 Where does disobedience come from We know it's the flesh, but you know in order for you to if you're someone that is just naturally this obedience You're naturally this obedient to parents if you're a child you're naturally this obedient to your boss You know at the workplace you're naturally this obedient to the church pastor. Thank God. I don't have that situation Thank God or maybe maybe one day Mike's turn up so remember this sermon, okay? But you know in order you know you know where it starts. You know the Bible's very clear I've looked this up many times It's very clear that it all begins right here in the mind right here before you take the act of disobedience It all starts up here in the mind okay now look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 and verse number 5 It says here casting down imaginations and Every high thing that exalts of itself against the knowledge of God You know what brethren we have some wild imaginations in this brain And you know I don't want you to know my brain I don't know if you guys are interested in in in science fiction science. I don't know if it's science fiction or if it's science it's probably science fiction, but They're saying that you know one day. We're going to be able to download our brains onto a computer into a hard drive I mean, there's a lot of talk about that. You know and I I would not want my brain downloaded to a hard drive that anybody can access Because listen you know I'm your pastor, but listen I have to be honest There are crazy imaginations in that brain And I say that because I know there's crazy imaginations in your brain Okay, there are weird things that happen in our mind, right? Every high thing that exalts of itself Against the knowledge of God this is why we become rebellious because in our mind we start exalting ourselves above measure Above the authorities that God has given us. I'm going to exalt myself above that that's where the rebellion starts Okay, and we keep going although all the disobedience it says and bringing into captivity Every thought to the obedience of Christ. Hey, what was point number six? We ought to be obedient to God in order for us to be obedient to Jesus Christ. We have to take every thought into captivity Into captivity so you know that means brethren when you start having some crazy Sinful wild thoughts when you start exalting yourself above measure above the authorities in your life You need to say to yourself brain What are you doing? And you take that thought you put it back into captivity you put it back in prison you put it back where it belongs And so I don't want to be thinking about those things okay. That's where Disobedience are we need to learn how to be obedient to God by by fixing this brain by fixing this mind, okay? Let's keep going there verse number six and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience When your obedience is fulfilled now brethren Verses six might be a little bit unusual to you, but we're allowed it We are actually allowed to take revenge sometimes now I've already taught this not long ago that vengeance belongs unto the Lord We don't take revenge for ourselves for what people have done unto us we go to God and we say God vengeance is yours You repay okay? That's God's business, but there is this one time we can take vengeance Vengeance or revenge so how do we take revenge well it says here and have it in a readiness to revenge all Disobedience, what is it saying that when you disobey when your brain starts to tell you I'll go to disobey You got to take revenge on your brain I'm gonna take vengeance on that mind. I'm gonna retake revenge. How is it that we take revenge? It says when your obedience is fulfilled Okay, so when you obey God You've taken revenge on your disobedience Okay, you've actually gone to your disobedience saying I'm gonna. I'm gonna take you down I'm gonna put make revenge on you and the way you do it is by just obeying God I'm gonna obey God. That's where wisdom comes from I've controlled my mind. I brought it low I've brought myself back to humility. I've not allowed myself to be exalted I've not allowed myself to become rebellious and disobedient you take those thoughts down and say no God Help me help me take those thoughts into captivity and Lord I'm just gonna walk in obedience to you, and I'm gonna take revenge on my disobedience So brethren what are those six points once again? You know I think we see some great Characteristics of the wise men, but our point number one brethren we need to be true worshipers of God number two We need to read God's Word number three We need to honor the king or honor the authorities that are over us number four we need to learn how to rejoice Number five we ought to bring forth our gifts or our sacrifices unto the Lord and number six We need to be obedient to God okay. Let's pray