- 6/27/2024
Are YOU looking for Old Fashion Preaching?
Robby Dickerson preaches from the King James Version of the Bible.
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE & LIKE this channel! When you do, it really
helps spread the Living Word of God to a Dying World.
Find Us On Social Media
https://www.robbydickersonministries.com
mailto:robbydickersonministries@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/luther.dickerson
https://rumble.com/user/RobbyDickersonPreachingMinistries
https://open.spotify.com/show/0MhAcWF8OHqO9lrwLd6lKG
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-robby-dickerson-preaching-131781206/
https://www.audible.com/pd/Robby-Dickerson-Preaching-Ministries-Podcast/B0CP74T9ZZ
https://www.dailymotion.com/partner/x2vuh2e/media/video
Robby Dickerson preaches from the King James Version of the Bible.
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE & LIKE this channel! When you do, it really
helps spread the Living Word of God to a Dying World.
Find Us On Social Media
https://www.robbydickersonministries.com
mailto:robbydickersonministries@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/luther.dickerson
https://rumble.com/user/RobbyDickersonPreachingMinistries
https://open.spotify.com/show/0MhAcWF8OHqO9lrwLd6lKG
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-robby-dickerson-preaching-131781206/
https://www.audible.com/pd/Robby-Dickerson-Preaching-Ministries-Podcast/B0CP74T9ZZ
https://www.dailymotion.com/partner/x2vuh2e/media/video
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00And when you find your place, we're going to be starting in verse number one.
00:03Matthew chapter number two.
00:07The Bible says,
00:07Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,
00:13behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
00:18saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews?
00:22For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
00:27When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
00:34And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,
00:38he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
00:43And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,
00:48And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah
00:51art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor,
00:56that shall rule my people Israel.
00:58Verse number seven,
00:59Then Herod, when he had previously called the wise men, inquired of them diligently
01:04what time the star appeared.
01:07And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child,
01:13and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
01:19Verse nine, When they had heard the king, they departed,
01:21and lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them,
01:25till it came and stood over where the young child was.
01:29When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
01:34And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother,
01:39and fell down and worshipped him.
01:41And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him
01:45gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
01:50Uh, the title of my sermon this morning is,
01:53What will you give to Jesus?
01:56What will you give to Jesus?
01:59Let's have a word of prayer and we'll get right into the message.
02:04Father in heaven, again, I thank you just for the opportunity to come this morning
02:07and be able to preach to your people.
02:09We thank you again for everyone that is here.
02:11I pray this morning you would take this message
02:14and that you'd help us to see Jesus for who he is.
02:17I pray, Lord, that you'd help us to see your great sacrifice
02:21in sending your only begotten son into this world.
02:23And I pray this morning that if there's someone here
02:26that may not know him as Lord and Savior,
02:28that they'd see him today and that they'd receive him today and be saved.
02:32We're just going to thank you today for what you're going to do in Jesus' name.
02:36Amen.
02:39What will you give to Jesus?
02:42You know, Christmas, or the Christmas season, so to speak,
02:46is known as the time of gift giving.
02:49As a matter of fact, the Christmas season is the busiest of all seasons.
02:55I know if you're like my wife, you can't go to Walmart right now during this time
03:00and hardly get in the door because there's so many people there.
03:03The registers are all backed up.
03:06Every store you go to, the parking lots are full
03:09because people are shopping for gifts to give to their children
03:13and their grandchildren and those that they love.
03:17But as we present our gifts to our children and our grandchildren and those that we love,
03:22the majority of the world this morning, during this time of the year,
03:27they don't even think about the real reason for why we celebrate.
03:33Christmas morning, thousands upon thousands of gifts are going to be given
03:38and they're going to be opened.
03:40But sadly, in the majority of all the homes across this country,
03:43Jesus will never be mentioned.
03:46God this morning will never be thanked.
03:49And yet he gave the greatest gift of all in the offering of his only begotten son.
03:56And I think this morning, as we have commercialized every holiday,
04:01and we celebrate, but we forget the real reason why we are celebrating.
04:07The greatest gift that was ever given was the day that God offered to us his son.
04:14And in the Christmas story, we find him wrapped in swaddling clothes
04:19and laying in a manger because there was no room for him at the end.
04:27And we also see in the Christmas story how the heart of man is manifesting.
04:32Because I want you to think about it.
04:34You have a lady, a pregnant lady and her husband just looking for a place to lodge.
04:42You would think when someone saw that there was a pregnant lady there,
04:48they might have given up their space or given up their room.
04:52But yet in the story of Jesus, nobody was willing to give up their space.
04:57And there was still no room for him in the end.
05:02But when we look at the world of today and the average home today,
05:07there's still no room for Jesus.
05:10Men and women this morning have room for everything else.
05:14They've got room for entertainment.
05:16You know, I love sports.
05:18They've got room for football and basketball.
05:21And I don't have a problem with football and basketball.
05:24But the problem that I have this morning is when we look at our world,
05:27we've got, we've made room for everything else.
05:32Except for Jesus.
05:35You know, and that's really sad this morning.
05:42So this morning, what we're going to do is we're going to simply stop for a minute
05:46and we're going to pay tribute to the Lord Jesus Christ.
05:50When we see these three wise men come from the east,
05:54we notice that they came from the east because they had seen his star.
06:00And when they come and they present their gifts to Jesus,
06:04they present them gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
06:09But the story here in Matthew chapter number two is a very rich story.
06:14The Bible tells us, number one, that there were wise men who came from the east.
06:20Did you ever think about for a second who these wise men were?
06:25Well, they weren't Jews.
06:26I'm going to give you that right there.
06:29They were Gentiles.
06:32The story of the wise men actually date all the way back to the time of Daniel the prophet.
06:37If you can remember in Daniel's day when Israel was taken captive by the Babylonians
06:43and they were taken to Babylon, in Nebuchadnezzar's court,
06:47there were people that gave their life to the study of astronomy.
06:54I guess you could say they were old time astronomers without all the technology.
06:59But what they would do is they would give and they would dedicate their lives
07:03to the studying of stars and planets.
07:05So they would do this and for all that time they had access also to the scriptures.
07:12Now what's real interesting in this story right here
07:16is we find educated people who devote their entire lives in the study of astronomy
07:22and also understanding the prophecies concerning the birth of Christ.
07:26So they tie them together and then when they see that one star,
07:31they come to find the child named Jesus.
07:36Now notice here in Matthew chapter number 2 and verse number 6,
07:39the wise men here, they quoted from a prophet known as Michael,
07:44which in Michael 5, 2 the Bible says,
07:47But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
07:52yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel,
07:57whose going forth hath been of old from everlasting.
08:01And when I think about this, for hundreds of years,
08:04these wise men were looking for his star.
08:10From the days back of Nebuchadnezzar,
08:13they were looking for the promise of the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Christ.
08:21In Numbers chapter number 24, verse number 17,
08:24there was a prophecy concerning Christ which states,
08:28I shall see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh.
08:33Now watch this.
08:34There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.
08:42That's why when you get to Matthew chapter number 2 and verse number 2,
08:45when the wise men show up on the scene,
08:48they said to Herod, they said, We have seen his star.
08:54Because they had recognized that that was the fulfillment of the coming of Christ.
09:01So we see here where the wise men travel all the way from Babylon to Jerusalem,
09:06and then they make their final destination to Bethlehem
09:10to find and worship Jesus Christ.
09:15And in their worship, they presented him three gifts,
09:18which we're going to talk about today.
09:20They presented him gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
09:27Now the title of the sermon this morning is,
09:30What Will You Give to Jesus?
09:35And this morning, as we observe Christmas once again,
09:38we're going to give gifts to those that we love.
09:42But this morning, what are you going to give to Jesus?
09:47So this morning, I have five things that I'm going to give you
09:50concerning the gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus.
09:54Number one, I want you to know, number one, they were sacrificial gifts.
10:00These gifts this morning were sacrificial gifts.
10:08Now, if you would look at verse number 11 in Matthew chapter number two,
10:12the Bible says that when they were coming to the house,
10:16they saw the young child would marry his mother and fell down and worshiped him.
10:23Now watch this.
10:24And when they had opened their treasures,
10:28they presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
10:34You see, these were sacrificial gifts
10:38that these wise men brought and presented to Jesus.
10:41Number one, they were gifts of expense.
10:45They were expensive.
10:46They cost these men something.
10:48It cost them something to bring these gifts to Jesus.
10:53Now these wise men right here, they spared no expense
10:57in presenting to Jesus the very best that they could offer.
11:01And I'm just going to say this, this morning,
11:05Jesus is worthy of our very best.
11:09He really is.
11:10We shouldn't look at Jesus and give him the leftovers in our life.
11:16We should give him our very best.
11:18We should do our very best for him.
11:21We should serve him the very best way that we can.
11:24The Bible this morning tells us that they opened up their treasures
11:28and out of them gave him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
11:36Someone one time made this statement.
11:38He said, the best gifts that are given to men
11:40come at great expense to the one giving the gift.
11:45This morning, you and I think about how wonderful the gift of salvation is.
11:50And this morning, listen, I'm going to hold my Bible high
11:52and I'm going to thank God this morning
11:54because it is the free gift of salvation.
11:57We don't have to do anything to earn God's mercy and forgiveness and love.
12:01He gives it to us free.
12:03And it's the greatest gift that's ever given.
12:06You say, why?
12:07Because it came at great expense to the one that provided.
12:13It's free to us.
12:15But the gift of salvation sure did cost God.
12:19It cost him his only begotten son.
12:21And this morning, when I think about how God opened up all of heaven,
12:27listen, God this morning didn't send us an angel.
12:31He didn't send us a prophet like Elijah or Jeremiah.
12:37When he opened up heaven this morning,
12:38he sent his only begotten son into this world to be born among us,
12:44to live among us, and then to die the cruel death of the cross.
12:48So that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
12:58You see, that gift this morning, it's free to us.
13:03And it's wonderful this morning.
13:04But we take for granted that the one who offered the gift gave it at great expense.
13:12Now, this morning, listen, when I talk about what are you going to give Jesus,
13:16what are you going to give Jesus?
13:18Listen, I'm going to clarify this morning.
13:19God's not interested in silver and gold.
13:24He's not interested in how much monetarily that you can give to him.
13:28The only thing that God wants from you and I is our heart.
13:32That's it.
13:33And if you can give that to Jesus, listen,
13:35that's the greatest gift you could possibly ever give back to him.
13:40You see, these gifts this morning were of great expense.
13:42But these gifts also came, you know, as a gift of commitment.
13:48They were committed in giving Jesus these gifts.
13:53Now, think about it.
13:54These wise men here in Matthew chapter number two, they traveled a great distance.
13:59They came from another country.
14:02Listen, they left Babylon and came all the way to Jerusalem.
14:06And then they turned around and went another four or five days to Bethlehem.
14:12You see, these gifts right here represent their commitment to Jesus.
14:19You know, the word commitment this morning is something
14:21that has been lost in the average church today.
14:25You know, we talk about being committed to God and committed to the Lord Jesus Christ,
14:29but so many people this morning have literally failed when it came to the area of commitment.
14:37You know, I remember when I was in the Philippines,
14:39me and my wife were in the Philippines several years ago.
14:42And I remember I was preaching a Sunday evening service in the Philippines.
14:46And I sure remember we were in a village that didn't have any electricity and no lights.
14:50Everything was done by candlelight.
14:52And I remember I was standing there at the door of the church.
14:55And I said to the pastor, Miss Judy, I said, well, it's almost church time.
14:59I said, where is everybody?
15:02There was nobody at the church.
15:03The pastor said, just look over that hill.
15:06Just keep watching that hill.
15:08And I watched that hill.
15:09Then all of a sudden I saw one candle and another candle and another candle.
15:14And before long, we saw probably 100 candles coming up over that hill right in time for church.
15:21I said, wow.
15:21I said, that is something.
15:22The pastor looked at me and said, some of those people right there
15:26traveled on foot for miles just to come and worship Jesus.
15:34That's commitment.
15:36And that's what we're missing this morning going into 2020.
15:39See, we're missing commitment when it comes to living for and serving God.
15:44Now this morning, I'm thankful for people like Miss Lois.
15:47Miss Lois, I know that every time the doors are open, you're gonna do your best to be here.
15:51If Miss Lois is sick, she wants to be in church.
15:54Whatever's going on in the world, Miss Lois wants to be in church.
15:56That's commitment this morning.
16:00I remember shortly before my grandmother passed away,
16:03my grandmother went to church Wednesday night and she was sick.
16:07She'd been in and out of hospitals and so forth like that.
16:10And she knew she didn't have much time left.
16:12But Wednesday night, she said, I want to go to church.
16:15She went to church Wednesday night.
16:17She sang in church Wednesday night.
16:20And then she passed down into glory Thursday morning.
16:25But she said, the last thing I want to do is I want to go to church.
16:29That's commitment this morning.
16:31What can I give to Jesus?
16:33I'll tell you what you can give this morning.
16:34You can commit your life and your heart to him.
16:37You can commit to serving him and living for him.
16:39Will you commit your life to Jesus this morning?
16:44You see, number one this morning, when we talk about the gifts that were given,
16:47number one, they were sacrificial gifts.
16:50It cost them something to present these gifts to Jesus.
16:54But number two, not only were they sacrificial, they were voluntary gifts.
16:59Look at verse number one, if you would.
17:02Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,
17:07behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
17:11saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews?
17:14For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.
17:23Did you ever think for a second that the gifts that the wise men gave
17:27that the wise men offered Jesus were voluntary?
17:34In other words, there was no law that required them to leave Babylon and go to Bethlehem.
17:42There was no king in Babylon that had ordered them to leave Babylon
17:47and go look for Jesus and present him gifts.
17:52There was no emperor.
17:53There was no ordinance.
17:54Listen, everything you read about in Matthew chapter number two was done voluntarily.
18:04They voluntarily got up and left and went to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
18:11When we look at these wise men this morning,
18:13we see these wise men, how they were simply just studying the scriptures
18:17and they were studying the stars.
18:19And then one day they looked up into the sky and they saw a sky full of stars,
18:25but they saw one star that stuck out.
18:29And I could imagine this morning when they saw that one star,
18:32one of them said, that's his star.
18:36Fellas, it's time to go.
18:37That's his star.
18:40And they started making their way towards Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem.
18:45You see, they got up and they went voluntarily.
18:50God this morning wants your service to be voluntary.
18:57He doesn't want you and I to serve him because of law.
19:01You know, if you're saved by grace, you're free from law.
19:04We've got liberty this morning in Jesus Christ.
19:08Listen, this morning, because of Jesus,
19:09I don't have to fear the condemnation of hell anymore.
19:12The condemnation of hell anymore.
19:14I've got perfect liberty.
19:16So I don't come to church this morning to escape the condemnation of hell.
19:22I've got liberty.
19:22I've received Jesus as Lord and Savior.
19:26We don't serve him because of law.
19:29We don't serve him because of duty or obligation.
19:35We simply serve him because we love him and we want to serve him.
19:40And that's what God wants us this morning.
19:42He doesn't want you to feel obligated.
19:44He doesn't want you to serve him because it's your Christian duty.
19:49He wants you to be able to come and worship because that's what you want to do.
19:56I've been in ministry over 25 years now.
19:59Seems like a drop in the bucket.
20:01But I have seen so many people that go to church
20:04because they feel like that's what they have to do.
20:07We've got to get away from that.
20:10I think about the psalmist this morning when he said,
20:12I was glad when they said unto me,
20:15Let us go into the house of the Lord.
20:18And that's how we ought to look at Christian services more.
20:21We ought to be excited that we have an opportunity to go and worship
20:24the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
20:28Can you imagine this morning how excited the wise men must have been?
20:33For years and years and years they had been studying the scriptures.
20:37They'd been studying the stars.
20:39And then one day one of them saw that star and said,
20:42Hey, Phil, look, it's his star.
20:45And they got excited and they went to worship him.
20:50Man, that's how you and I ought to be when it comes to serving Jesus.
20:55We don't need to be sticking the mugs this morning.
20:58We don't need to simply come and say,
21:00Well, I had to go to church.
21:01No, you don't have to go to church.
21:04Listen, I came this morning because I wanted to come and worship him this morning.
21:09And this morning, I hope that that's why you came as well.
21:12The psalmist said, I was glad when they said unto me,
21:16Let us go into the house of the Lord.
21:18Worshiping Jesus ought to bring you great joy.
21:24You see, so number one, when we look at these gifts this morning,
21:28we see number one, that they were sacrificial gifts.
21:31Number two, they were voluntary gifts.
21:33But number three, watch this.
21:35They were also faith-based gifts.
21:40The gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus,
21:43they were gifts that were rooted in faith.
21:49If you would look at verse number four for me, please.
22:00In verse number four,
22:01in verse number four,
22:04the Bible says,
22:04And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea,
22:08for thus, I'm sorry, in verse number four,
22:10And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,
22:15he demanded of them,
22:16Herod demanded of them where Christ should be born.
22:20And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea,
22:23for thus it is written by the prophet,
22:25And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah,
22:31for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.
22:38You see, their gifts this morning were based upon faith.
22:45They followed a star.
22:48How many of you this morning, if God spoke to you
22:52and said, I've got a star in the sky, I want you to follow,
22:57how many of you this morning would get up and follow a star based on faith?
23:01Brother Jack said, I would.
23:04Well, think for a second about the faith of these wise men.
23:08The only thing that they had was they had the star and the scriptures.
23:14And of course, we know that all the scripture points to the coming of Jesus, and it does.
23:20But they had the star and they had the scriptures.
23:24And when the two came together and they saw that star,
23:28they acted instantly by faith and they got up and they left everything they knew.
23:34They took everything that they had and they made a trip to Bethlehem.
23:42That right there was a tremendous act of faith.
23:47You see, these wise men, they weren't Jews.
23:50We talked about that.
23:51They were Gentiles.
23:53But they believed the word of God and they stepped out by faith when they saw his star.
24:02Now watch this.
24:04As the wise men followed the star and they did it by faith,
24:09this morning by faith, we follow the cross.
24:13This morning by faith, we follow the cross.
24:16Our faith this morning is rooted in the fact that Jesus not only was born of a virgin,
24:24but also that he lived among us.
24:27He fellowshiped with us.
24:29He healed our infirmity.
24:32But also based upon the fact that men took him and they drove nails through his hands and his feet
24:38and they hung him on a tree to an open shame and that he died.
24:47But the story doesn't end there.
24:50Three days later, he rose from the dead.
24:53And that is our faith this morning.
24:56Our faith this morning is not really much different than the faith of the wise men.
25:00Our faith this morning as theirs was rooted this morning in the scriptures
25:04and looking for the star.
25:05Our faith this morning is rooted in the word of God and looking at the cross.
25:10And this morning, I'm going to tell you something.
25:12Jesus today is not dead in the tomb.
25:15I'm going to tell you, thank God, glory to God.
25:17He is alive and he's forevermore.
25:20By the way, he has the keys of hell and of death.
25:25Our faith this morning is rooted in the cross of Jesus Christ.
25:31The Bible declares that fact this morning when the Bible tells us the just,
25:37those who are saved, the just shall live by faith.
25:46And people today in the world might think that you and I are foolish.
25:50When you look at the lost world this morning, a lot of people would say,
25:54well, you believe in Jesus and they'll laugh at you.
25:57They'll laugh at you and they might even mock you and say insulting things to you.
26:02Well, think about this for a second.
26:04When the three wise men set out and said, we're leaving Babylon because we saw a star.
26:10Do you think anyone might have thought that they were crazy or foolish?
26:14I promise you this morning, all of their educated friends in Babylon
26:18probably looked at them and said, you're crazy.
26:19You're going to go follow a star looking for Jesus.
26:23They said, we're stepping out by faith.
26:25We've seen his star.
26:26We're going to look for him.
26:28They said, you're crazy.
26:29You're foolish.
26:29Why would you ever do that?
26:31But they, nevertheless, they went and you know what happened?
26:34When they stepped out in faith, they found him.
26:38When you step out in faith this morning, I'm going to tell you something.
26:40You're going to find Jesus.
26:42You're going to find a relationship with God this morning.
26:46The just shall live by faith.
26:50You see these gifts that the wise men offered to Jesus were gifts of faith.
26:55They literally stepped out in faith, believing God's word.
27:02And then number four, not only were these gifts, gifts of faith, but number four,
27:11these gifts were symbolic gifts.
27:15They were symbolic.
27:17They were symbolic.
27:18If you would look at verse number 11 in Matthew chapter number two, verse number 11.
27:26And when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary's mother
27:31and fell down and worshiped him.
27:35And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts.
27:38Now watch this, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
27:47You see these gifts this morning were symbolic.
27:53Now, I don't know, brother Jack, if the wise men, when they left Babylon,
27:59really knew what they were going to offer to Jesus.
28:03They may have had a revelation to understand that.
28:06I don't know.
28:09But these gifts right here that they would offer to Jesus
28:13were full of symbolism concerning his life.
28:17And number one, the gift of gold.
28:22The gold this morning was a gift for a king.
28:28When the wise men presented to Jesus gold,
28:32they anointed him and said, you are truly the king of the Jews.
28:38Now, if you can remember this morning, when Jesus went to the cross,
28:44the Romans put a sign above his head in mockery that said, this is the king of the Jews.
28:53They mocked him.
28:55But the wise men here said, truly, you are the king of the Jews.
29:01And he's not only the king of the Jews this morning,
29:03he's the king of kings and the Lord of lords.
29:06But when they offered him the gift of gold, listen, they bowed before him.
29:11Think about this.
29:13Here's these wise men, these educated men of Babylon.
29:17They bowed before a child and pronounced him to be king.
29:26You see, the gift of gold this morning represented his kingship.
29:32The frankincense being like a very pleasant perfume was used to represent his deity.
29:42And that showed right there that Jesus, this child, this Christ,
29:48was not just a mere child, not just a mere man, but he was actually God incarnated into man.
30:01You see that frankincense this morning represents his deity.
30:06Now, Christ himself was born as the son of man,
30:09but he's also the son of God.
30:13And I'm just going to go ahead and tell you this.
30:16If any religion, any denomination tries to separate Jesus from being God,
30:23don't have anything to do with them.
30:26Colossians chapter number two, verse number nine,
30:29the Bible says concerning Jesus,
30:31for in him, watch this, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
30:37Someone asked me one time, well, so since Jesus has both God and man,
30:44does that mean that he was 50% God and 50% man?
30:49Not at all.
30:50He was 100% God while also being 100% man at the same time.
30:59But in the offering of frankincense, and think about this,
31:04these wise men may not have even understood the significance of these gifts,
31:08but when they offered him frankincense,
31:10they were confessing right there that he is the eternal God.
31:21And then we see the last gift, the gift of myrrh.
31:26The myrrh this morning, of course, you know what that means.
31:29That's symbolic of death.
31:32How they would anoint the dead bodies with myrrh after they had passed away.
31:39The myrrh here would present Jesus as the dying lamb.
31:43We see him in the gold as being the great king,
31:45the king of kings and the Lord of lords.
31:47We see him in the frankincense as being the everlasting God.
31:50But when we see the myrrh, we see him as the dying lamb.
31:55As a matter of fact, it was John the Baptist,
31:57when he first laid his eyes on Jesus during his ministry,
32:00who declared, behold, the lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.
32:10And I like to think about this as well.
32:14Ms. Cheryl, there were so many different things
32:17that they could have presented and offered to Jesus.
32:21Why in the world would the wise men present him myrrh, of all things?
32:26Because it was symbolic of what he was going to do.
32:31Jesus's entire purpose was to be born into this world,
32:35to die as God's lamb for the remission of everyone's sins,
32:38so that you could receive forgiveness, so that I could receive forgiveness,
32:41so that one day we could come into the presence of a holy God
32:44and have a home in heaven.
32:49Out of all the gifts that they could have given to Jesus,
32:51of all the gifts that they could have given to Jesus,
32:55that last wise man pulled out the gift of myrrh.
32:59I wonder what Mary thought when they presented his son myrrh.
33:06I think she already understood what his purpose was coming into the world.
33:14You see, these gifts were symbolic,
33:17and through three gifts, they tell the entire story and the meaning of Jesus Christ.
33:24And I got one more, and then I'm going to be through.
33:27So we look at the gifts that the wise men gave.
33:30Number one, we see that they were sacrificial gifts.
33:34It cost them something to give these gifts to Jesus.
33:38In order to serve Jesus, listen, sometimes it's going to cost you something.
33:42I'm not talking about money, I'm not talking about a monetarily place,
33:45but sometimes you're going to have to face this lost world,
33:49and sometimes they're going to say things that aren't pleasant to you
33:52if you want to really live for Jesus.
33:54It's going to cost you a commitment.
33:56Sometimes when you don't want to give and go to the house of God,
33:59listen, you're going to say, you know what?
34:00I'm going to go to the house of God.
34:01I'm going to worship God.
34:04You see, those gifts this morning were sacrificial gifts.
34:08They were voluntary gifts.
34:11Listen, don't serve God because everyone else is serving God.
34:17Don't serve God because that's what's expected.
34:22Serve Him and live for Him this morning because you want to.
34:25You've made that decision.
34:29They were faith-based gifts.
34:31All they had was the scriptures and the star,
34:33and when they lined up, Brother Bill, they took off.
34:40They said, we know that He's coming.
34:42We've seen His star.
34:44Then they were symbolic gifts.
34:45The gifts told the story of Jesus.
34:47And then my last one, number five, these were acknowledging gifts.
34:55Now go back to verse number 10, if you would, Matthew chapter 2, verse number 10.
35:04Now watch this.
35:06When they saw the star, watch this,
35:09they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
35:12Now they saw the star and they got excited.
35:15Prophecies fulfilled, Christ is born.
35:20Verse number 11, and when they were coming to the house,
35:24they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshiped Him.
35:32I'm going to stop right there for a second.
35:36Brother Jack, they didn't worship Mary.
35:40They worshiped Jesus.
35:44They fell down, they worshiped Him.
35:48And when they had opened their treasures,
35:51they presented unto Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
35:58You see, these were acknowledging gifts.
36:01Number one, they bowed and they confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord.
36:08They bowed in reverence one more time to a child.
36:13They acknowledged and they confessed right there that Jesus Christ is Lord.
36:17The Bible tells us in Romans chapter number 10, verses 9 and 10,
36:21that thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
36:23and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead.
36:26Thou shalt be saved.
36:29For with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
36:32They confessed right here when they saw the baby, He is Lord.
36:42And after they bowed to Him, then they received Him as Lord.
36:49In John chapter number 1, verse number 12, the Bible says,
36:52but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.
36:58Even to them that believe on His name.
37:01How can you be saved and have a home in heaven?
37:03How can you have everlasting life?
37:06You receive Jesus as Lord into your life and into your heart.
37:11Too many people this morning are trying too hard to get into heaven.
37:16You know, another thing that happens during Christmas time,
37:18and I'm glad that it does,
37:19but a lot of people give a lot of money to charity.
37:21And I'm not against charity, not against it at all.
37:25But the reason why some people give to charity
37:27is because they think that's their ticket into heaven.
37:31That's not going to get you into heaven.
37:33There's no works this morning that are going to get you into heaven.
37:36It's all about receiving God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
37:40If you'll receive Him as Lord and Savior, He'll give unto you everlasting life.
37:46You see, the wise men here, they confessed that Jesus is Lord,
37:49and they received Him as Lord and Savior.
37:53Now, when we think about the meaning of Christmas,
37:56we must always remember the greatest gift that was ever given,
38:03and that gift is Jesus.
38:08So this morning, as we look and see how much God has given to us
38:12and how gracious God has been to all of us this morning,
38:17the question is, what are you going to give to God?
38:20The question is, what are you going to give back to Him?
38:27Now, you might say, well, Brother Robbie, I don't have any gold.
38:30I don't have any frankincense.
38:34What can I give Him?
38:35He's not interested in silver and gold and frankincense.
38:38What He's interested this morning is in your heart.
38:42And this morning, as we go into Christmas time,
38:44as we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior,
38:47this morning, you can give Him your heart.
38:50You can simply come this morning and say, Lord Jesus, I love you.
38:54And from this day forward, I want to live for you,
38:56not because I have to or because someone else expects me to.
39:00It's my decision to come and live for you.
39:05So the question this morning is, what will you give to Jesus?
Recommended
25:18
|
Up next