[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the first Sunday of the new year, the 4th of January, 2015. Our service today also included Holy Communion.]
Our modern popular culture would tell us that Christmas ends on December 25th, but we didn’t always think that way. A song written back around 1782 in England listed gifts given throughout the 12 days of Christmas. Christmas begins on the 25th and continues through those 12 days and ends on Epiphany, January 6th, considered by the church as the day the Wise Men visited the young child Jesus. Let’s look at that visit as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, the 2nd chapter, verses 1 through 12…
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
--Matthew 2:1-12 (NKJV)
Let us pray... Father, we came here this morning in the name of Jesus to worship You, just as the Wise Men came from afar to worship Your Son. Speak to us, O Lord, through the words You have given Your servant and through Your Holy Spirit stirring our hearts. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Most of you know I come from a scientific background. I never thought that science excluded Christianity. Rather, I see science as a means of supporting Christianity, as do many others in scientific related fields. For instance, in his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner applies the science of probability to just eight prophecies regarding Christ. Stoner says, "The chance that any man might have fulfilled all eight prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th.” That’s a 1 followed by 17 zeros - one hundred quadrillion. Stoner suggests that if "we take 10 to the 17th silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas, they will cover all of the state 2 feet deep. Now mark one of those silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly. Blindfold a man and tell him he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up that one silver dollar we marked. What chance would he have of getting the right one?" Stoner answers his own question, "Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing those eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man… providing they wrote them in their own wisdom."
Now Stoner based all that on just eight prophesies being true. Those who have done the research conclude that Jesus fulfilled over 350 Old Testament prophecies. Over 350! If the odds of fulfilling only 8 of them are 1 in one hundred quadrillion, what do you suppose the odds would be of one Man fulfilling over 350?
As Matthew tells the story of the Wise Men’s visit, he repeats what Herod’s chief priests and scribes quoted from the prophet Micah when they tell of the place of Jesus’ birth: Bethlehem. That was just one of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled.
Today is the 11th day of Christmas. According to that old song I mentioned earlier… On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, 11 pipers piping, and a whole list of other wild gifts, ending with a partridge in a pear tree. The Wise Men brought gifts too; expensive gifts worth more than all those in the song combined.
We tend to lump the visit of the Wise Men together with the birth of Christ on Christmas Day, even putting them in nativity scenes. In actuality, this very likely occurred as much as two years after Jesus’ birth. Matthew’s Gospel says they visited the young child in the house with His mother Mary. And a little further on in chapter 2 he notes that Herod ordered the murder of all the male children in Bethlehem of up to two years old.
But when the visit happened isn’t as significant as what it means to us. Those wise men brought gifts to the young Christ child fit for a king, for a man, and for God. Gifts that showed these men understood that Jesus was fully man yet fully God.
Gold, frankincense, myrrh… 11 pipers piping… None of these gifts can even come close to what my true love, God, sent to me and you that day we celebrate on December 25th. For God sent us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. God sent us the gift of eternal salvation.
But strangely, so many people refuse to take it, to unwrap it and claim it as their own. Why? Some simply don’t believe in God or Jesus or heaven and hell. They don’t accept the scientific concept of this one Man, the Son of Man, beating astronomical odds and fulfilling all the prophecies foretold of the true Messiah, the long awaited Christ. They would rather take their chances on there being no hell than on giving up the lifestyles they want to live.
Then again, some folks just don’t feel themselves worthy of such a gift and so won’t take it as their own. Of course we’re not worthy! That’s the whole point! God sent Jesus to us when we were dead in our sin. If we were worthy, if we were right with God, we wouldn’t need Jesus!
On the first day of Christmas and the 11th day and every day, our one true love sent to us the gift of His amazing grace. He gave us what we could never deserve. God sent His Son to save us all.
Oh, and there’s one other gift the Magi brought to the Christ child. Do you know what it is?
The Wise Men entered the house and saw the young Jesus with His mother and they bowed down and worshiped Him. That’s a gift God wants from each of us - to worship Him. But there’s one thing about worship I want you to keep in mind. If we limit our worship to a place, such as a “house of worship”, then the minute we leave that place we leave behind our attitude of worship.
When I first started this message, I mentioned Epiphany, which we observe in two days, coinciding with the Wise Men’s visit. Epiphany is the Christian celebration of two times when the divinity of Jesus was made manifest, the two main events when the Godhead of Jesus was clearly revealed to man. The first we just covered: when the Wise Men visited the Christ child. The second occurred at His baptism by John in the River Jordan. Listen to how Matthew describes that event, in chapter 3 of his Gospel, verses 13 through 17…
Most of you know I come from a scientific background. I never thought that science excluded Christianity. Rather, I see science as a means of supporting Christianity, as do many others in scientific related fields. For instance, in his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner applies the science of probability to just eight prophecies regarding Christ. Stoner says, "The chance that any man might have fulfilled all eight prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th.” That’s a 1 followed by 17 zeros - one hundred quadrillion. Stoner suggests that if "we take 10 to the 17th silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas, they will cover all of the state 2 feet deep. Now mark one of those silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly. Blindfold a man and tell him he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up that one silver dollar we marked. What chance would he have of getting the right one?" Stoner answers his own question, "Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing those eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man… providing they wrote them in their own wisdom."
Now Stoner based all that on just eight prophesies being true. Those who have done the research conclude that Jesus fulfilled over 350 Old Testament prophecies. Over 350! If the odds of fulfilling only 8 of them are 1 in one hundred quadrillion, what do you suppose the odds would be of one Man fulfilling over 350?
As Matthew tells the story of the Wise Men’s visit, he repeats what Herod’s chief priests and scribes quoted from the prophet Micah when they tell of the place of Jesus’ birth: Bethlehem. That was just one of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled.
Today is the 11th day of Christmas. According to that old song I mentioned earlier… On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, 11 pipers piping, and a whole list of other wild gifts, ending with a partridge in a pear tree. The Wise Men brought gifts too; expensive gifts worth more than all those in the song combined.
We tend to lump the visit of the Wise Men together with the birth of Christ on Christmas Day, even putting them in nativity scenes. In actuality, this very likely occurred as much as two years after Jesus’ birth. Matthew’s Gospel says they visited the young child in the house with His mother Mary. And a little further on in chapter 2 he notes that Herod ordered the murder of all the male children in Bethlehem of up to two years old.
But when the visit happened isn’t as significant as what it means to us. Those wise men brought gifts to the young Christ child fit for a king, for a man, and for God. Gifts that showed these men understood that Jesus was fully man yet fully God.
Gold, frankincense, myrrh… 11 pipers piping… None of these gifts can even come close to what my true love, God, sent to me and you that day we celebrate on December 25th. For God sent us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. God sent us the gift of eternal salvation.
But strangely, so many people refuse to take it, to unwrap it and claim it as their own. Why? Some simply don’t believe in God or Jesus or heaven and hell. They don’t accept the scientific concept of this one Man, the Son of Man, beating astronomical odds and fulfilling all the prophecies foretold of the true Messiah, the long awaited Christ. They would rather take their chances on there being no hell than on giving up the lifestyles they want to live.
Then again, some folks just don’t feel themselves worthy of such a gift and so won’t take it as their own. Of course we’re not worthy! That’s the whole point! God sent Jesus to us when we were dead in our sin. If we were worthy, if we were right with God, we wouldn’t need Jesus!
On the first day of Christmas and the 11th day and every day, our one true love sent to us the gift of His amazing grace. He gave us what we could never deserve. God sent His Son to save us all.
Oh, and there’s one other gift the Magi brought to the Christ child. Do you know what it is?
The Wise Men entered the house and saw the young Jesus with His mother and they bowed down and worshiped Him. That’s a gift God wants from each of us - to worship Him. But there’s one thing about worship I want you to keep in mind. If we limit our worship to a place, such as a “house of worship”, then the minute we leave that place we leave behind our attitude of worship.
When I first started this message, I mentioned Epiphany, which we observe in two days, coinciding with the Wise Men’s visit. Epiphany is the Christian celebration of two times when the divinity of Jesus was made manifest, the two main events when the Godhead of Jesus was clearly revealed to man. The first we just covered: when the Wise Men visited the Christ child. The second occurred at His baptism by John in the River Jordan. Listen to how Matthew describes that event, in chapter 3 of his Gospel, verses 13 through 17…
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
--Matthew 3:13-17 (NKJV)
The revelation of Jesus as God couldn’t be any clearer than that, could it? God Himself declared Jesus to be His own Son
Now an epiphany isn’t just something we can read about in the Bible, it’s also something we might experience ourselves. Some of you may have had your own epiphany.
Mine came during that period when I was trying to discern God’s will, trying to decide whether to enter the ministry or not. Believe me, this was a huge decision. I still held to a worldly mindset that I was absolutely the last person that should be a preacher! We were in prayer at one of our pastors retreats some years back, seeking God’s will, when I heard His voice repeating over and over: “Preach My word”. “Preach My word.”
I’ve been trying to do so ever since. And I’ve been sharing that little personal epiphany with anyone who will listen, along with my testimony of how Jesus has changed my life for the better. That epiphany is part of my testimony. It made God and Jesus just as real for me as their visit did for the Wise Men, as God’s words did for John and any others who heard His voice at the Jordan River.
And just as Matthew shared two very important epiphanies with us, I feel it equally important we tell others of our own personal experiences with God. Don’t let your epiphany go untold. Share it with others. Testify for our Lord. On the 11th day of Christmas, and every day.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father in heaven, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your Son into the darkness of our world that Your light might be spread to all corners of the earth. You are our true love and the gift You sent us is without equal. We did not deserve it, nor can we ever match Your great grace and generosity. All we can give in return is our love and our worship. May our offering please You.
Hear us now, Father, as we pause and speak to you individually in the silence from our hearts…
Father God, reveal Yourself to us. Give us our own epiphany to share with others, that we might testify for You with great conviction. Tell us in some personal way that Jesus is Your Son, and give us the strength and courage to share that with the world. In that most glorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
Now an epiphany isn’t just something we can read about in the Bible, it’s also something we might experience ourselves. Some of you may have had your own epiphany.
Mine came during that period when I was trying to discern God’s will, trying to decide whether to enter the ministry or not. Believe me, this was a huge decision. I still held to a worldly mindset that I was absolutely the last person that should be a preacher! We were in prayer at one of our pastors retreats some years back, seeking God’s will, when I heard His voice repeating over and over: “Preach My word”. “Preach My word.”
I’ve been trying to do so ever since. And I’ve been sharing that little personal epiphany with anyone who will listen, along with my testimony of how Jesus has changed my life for the better. That epiphany is part of my testimony. It made God and Jesus just as real for me as their visit did for the Wise Men, as God’s words did for John and any others who heard His voice at the Jordan River.
And just as Matthew shared two very important epiphanies with us, I feel it equally important we tell others of our own personal experiences with God. Don’t let your epiphany go untold. Share it with others. Testify for our Lord. On the 11th day of Christmas, and every day.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father in heaven, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your Son into the darkness of our world that Your light might be spread to all corners of the earth. You are our true love and the gift You sent us is without equal. We did not deserve it, nor can we ever match Your great grace and generosity. All we can give in return is our love and our worship. May our offering please You.
Hear us now, Father, as we pause and speak to you individually in the silence from our hearts…
Father God, reveal Yourself to us. Give us our own epiphany to share with others, that we might testify for You with great conviction. Tell us in some personal way that Jesus is Your Son, and give us the strength and courage to share that with the world. In that most glorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
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