God is Seeking Worshipers!
Matt.2:1-12, John.4:23
- Christ has come into the World
- The Creator has stepped into His creation, taking the form of a servant and coming in the likeness of man.
- Several days, weeks, perhaps even months have gone by
- Mary, Joseph & Lord Jesus have moved from stable into house
- One day not long after, these events, several strange foreign men arrive in Jerusalem.
- They have come, seeking the New-Born King,
- They have come to Worship Him! Why?
- Becoz God is seeking worshipers for His Son, the Lord of Glory
One: Christ Deserves to be Worshiped!
- God, in the person of Christ is Deserving of Worship
- God brought Christ into the world
- That is the Single greatest event in world history
- aside fr. Christ’s Atoning Death & Resurrection
- the heights of heaven’s throne room to the depths of a stable’s feed trough
- Infinitely Radiating Brightness & Glory to Humble, Humanity, as a child, even a baby…
- Christ Came.
- Christ by very nature of His person, deserves 2B Worshipped
- He is the 2nd person of the Trinity
- He is very God of very God
- He is God, having: same essence as God-Father & Spirit
- If it were not for His laying aside of His Glory to come
- The brightness, the splendour, the radiance of glory would’ve destroyed all who came face to face w/ Him
- Christ deserves to be worshipped & glorified!
- In Hebrews 1:6, God called all the Angels of God to worship Christ the New-born Son.
- In Luke 2, God sent the Angels to announce and declare the glories of God, in the birth of Christ
- God came to the Shepherds
- And announced to them the good news of Christ’s birth
- …and sent them to see the truth of the News
- to return telling the news
- God sent Simeon & Anna, in the Spirit
- to Go & Seek Him in the Temple
- to worship Him and witness to Him to others there
- God was/is seeking worshipers fr. all over, both Jew & Gentile
- That brings us to the Magi – “Three Wisemen” (altho Three (?)
- Matthew’s purpose in this story of the Magi, is to show us:
- even tho the Romans occupied the Judea-Galilee…
- even tho there was no rightful king, but an imposter on the throne, an Idumean, appointed by Roman Senate…
- even tho the different sects and divisions of Judaism were at odds with each other…
- even tho the Jewish leaders were apathetic toward the coming of the Messiah…
- Yet God was (is) seeking worshipers to worship, in Spirit/Truth
- God is, now, today, still drawing worshipers from all peoples, from Jew & Gentile, from those nearby and far, far away, to worship His Son
- The Magi-story serves as a foreshadowing of the effect of the gospel work of Christ & later the apostles as: gospel spreads
- And, God must seek and draw us to worship Christ, becoz…
- As Jesus said: In John 6:44, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.
- And again in John 6:65, He said, “…no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
- No man comes to God on their own (Rom.3)
- No man seeks for God unless God draws him/her/them to Himself – But Why?
- Our Sin against God and His Word has blinded us all to the beauty/glory of God, such that we have no desire for God.
- We do not seek for God, rather when confronted as sinners by the Holy God, our desire is to flee away.
Two: God Seeks Worshipers
- God (in Grace) Intervenes to Seek Worshipers for Christ
- But God is working world-wide seeking & drawing worshipers
- And God was at work in Babylon amongst the Magi
So, Who were the Magi?
- “Magi”, refers to the priests & experts in mysteries, who lived in Persia & Babylon, (Daniel)
- Magi practiced included: both astronomy & astrology,
- They were known for dream interpretation, (Daniel 2)
- Magi were also involved in study of ancient texts,
- In a similar way to Erasmus, Calvin & Luther, who sparked the European Reformation, thru the return to the study of ancient documents, of Old & New Testament, so the Magi studied ancient texts (Jewish?)
- Magi were given to pursuit of Wisdom & Magic – possibly occultic pagan worship – the very opposite of what we might think is the “right-kind” of person to draw in.
- But God, all thru scripture, chose the least likely to draw in:
- Abraham: the moon-worshiper from Ur of the Chaldees
- Moses: the 80 yr. old murderer and fugitive fr. Egypt
- David: the forgotten shepherd boy
- The 12 misfits, who became: 12 Disciples-Apostles
- Saul of Tarsus, the church-wrecking, Christian-killer
- He chose me, and He chose you to draw you to H-self.
- Given that the Magi originate in Persia & Babylon…
- and given: reality of a strong Jewish community in Babylon…
- It’s reasonable to assume that they were somewhat familiar with the promises and prophecies of the Messiah
- Magi were possibly familiar w/ Balaam’s oracle (Num.24:17) concerning a star coming fr Jacob, & a sceptre rising fr Israel.
- Balaam, himself was from the Eastern mountains, and it is possible, he was part of an early Magi group (?)
- The Magi’s seeing of the star had lead them to a convinced understanding that the star was a sign of Israel’s Messiah.
- God was at work in their lives, exposing them, in some way/shape/form, to the truth of the Coming Messiah, and so…
- They came, desiring to see: One born King, to Worship Him.
Here’s the point:
- God has moved in each of our cases to draw us to worship Him
- God has created events, troubles, difficulties, great joys, any number of various means to draw us to Himself & to Christ.
- God’s Holy Spirit is at work in our lives and circumstances to awaken us, to open our eyes to see the horror of our sin, and yet the beauty the glory, the Holiness of God that draws us to come and worship
- Do you see the work of God in your life, drawing you to Himself?
- Do you see how God is working to bring you to Himself to receive and experience forgiveness and healing, so that you can worship Him.
- Have U-I come this morning with the intention of worship?
But, What about this star, this astronomical phenomenon, they saw?
- What was it? A conjunct. of other planets? Halley’s Comet?
- 17th Cent. Astron. Kepler proposed: it was a supernova, an exploding star that gave off enormous amounts of light…
- Some would argue that it was merely a coincidental heavenly phenomenon, without God’s involvement.
- Sadly, there’re some people (even within the church) who always try to strip the miraculous, the wonder-full elements of scripture down to mere logical, reasonable, predictable event…
But, Listen, Make no mistake,
- God does intervene in Human & Astronomical, Geological, History, for His purposes…
- I (& many others) remain convinced that it was a supernatural event, given by God, to men who studied the heavens,
- to alert them to this great event
- to draw them to seek & to find Christ: New-born King.
- God in their case moved the Universe, to Draw these men, to come, and become Worshippers of Christ
- God has moved events in your life to draw you to come & become worshipers of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ
- Give thanks, dear bro & sis: God has moved events to bring you to Christ! – What marvellous, Tremendous Grace, God has!
Three: Worship is our Response to God’s Working.
- We see in these Magi, lessons & example of true, Bibl. Worship
- Lets work our way thru the text to see them:
1) Worship is based on: Evidence/Knowledge God has given
- We’ve already talked about the star, about their very likely proximity to the Jewish Community, and the available knowledge of the Jews’ Coming Messiah…
- Whatever knowledge they had, it certainly wasn’t complete, they didn’t know the whereabouts of the His birth: Bethlehem
- The point I want to draw out is that worship during our earthly life is never based upon full knowledge, complete theological understanding.
- But worship is based on the knowledge evidence that God has given us. – small or great!
- Bros & Sis’ are U-I worshiping based on knowledge we do have?
2) Worship begins with a Faith-conviction
- God had moved the Universe to draw them to consider the star, and the explanation for its place, existence, and purpose
- They had seen the star
- They had reason, evidence, knowledge to believe the star represented to them: Christ’s birth
- They’re already convinced, w/o sight, of Christ’s birth: Faith
- They don’t arrive in Jerus. asking if the Christ had been born
- They arrive in Jerus., stating as fact, that He had been born
- Worship of God, must be a faith-driven occasion – practice
- 11:6, would tell us, without faith, we cannot please God
- They accepted the evidence that they had been given…
- They came, in faith that they would find Him, and worship Him.
- They came in faith, prep’d to offer gifts of the highest value
- Do we come, in faith, based on the evidence we’ve rec’d, that God will accept us and our worship?
3) Worship requires a Seeking for God-Christ
- They left home, family, friends to travel great distance
- (800miles, 40 days travel @ 20mi/day)
- 40 days in Biblical context is often a time of testing
- For 40 days of that travel.-test. time, they sought the Lord
- Their desire was first to find the Lord, to see Him!
- 11:6, calls us to seek God, in Christ, diligently
- We’re to seek God, as He is, not what we determine He shuld B
- We seek God in Christ, guided by scripture
- We seek God in Christ, where He may be found
- God led the Magi to Jerusalem
- Then God led them, thru the testim. of scripture to Bethlehem
- God revealed Himself to them through the person of Christ
- They responded to God’s drawing by seeking Christ
- We seek God, not in a stable manger in the Mid.East,
- We seek for God thru prayer, crying out to God to hear the silent testimony of: H. Spirit in our hearts, speaking to us
- We seek for God thru the scriptures, desiring to encounter Him as we read & think deeply about scripture, and then respond in prayerful worship.
- We seek to see-understand God’s working in our lives, as it is explained to us by Scripture… in other words:
- We look/see: events, circumst, troubles & diffic of our lives
- We see what scripture says about those things
- We see what scripture says to explain those things from God’s perspective.
- Worship requires a response to God’s drawing of us, by our seeking for Him in return.
4) Worship is a Purposed Event
- Notice their entire purpose is not to merely, examine, to observe to do a study on new-born baby-kings
- They came seeking to find Christ, with the purpose to worship!
- Notice their determination: nothing was going to deter them.
- Bro’s & Sis’, Worship is not something that just happens to us
- We don’t just fall into Worship.
- Worship isn’t a carefully orchestrated arrangement of songs, lighting, movement, a generated atmosphere, whereby we move into a higher… trance-like state, so that we begin to worship.
- Worship happens
- when we come, by faith in God, good circumst’s or bad
- based on the evidence-knowledge we have of who God is
- whether it’s multiple PhD’s in Theology & Philosophy,
- or it’s the simple, child-like faith that believes:
- Jesus loves me this I know: the bible tells me so
- Worship happens when we’re determined
- to see God thru the eyes of faith,
- to delight in God, regardless of gifts or circumstances
- to express thru song or silence, thru eloquent words or the soul-groanings that’re too deep to be understood
- We can worship the Lord our God with-without music
- We can worship God on the heights of a mtn-top or the depths of the valley of the shadow of darkness
- We can worship God, if we hear his voice calling and we respond in faith and determination to worship.
5) Worship Demands a Cost to be paid
- Remember we said these Magi originate in Persia & Babylon, some 800 miles to the east.
- Travelling at the average of 20miles/day, on Camels, they would have spent 40 days travelling to get to Jerusalem, then another 3-4 hours to get to Bethlehem, to see Him to Worship
- Worship is Costly, it demands a sacrifice of time to worship
- That costly sacrifice for them almost certainly meant leaving behind not just house, home, universities, libraries of Babylon
- They left behind families, friends, no doubt some of whom sneered and mocked at the thought of 40 days journey to see one small, ordinary-looking baby
- Worship is costly.
- Worship, in their case meant giving to the new-born King, their greatest treasures, Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh, a sacrifice made to honour and esteem Christ the New-Born King.
- Worship will always cost something
- Remember David, who said in 24:24, that he would not offer to the Lord that which cost him nothing.
- It’s not that we are trying to buy-off God, or purchase our salvation or anything like that
- But, Worship is costly
- It demands our time to prepare
- It demands a commitment, to surrender some other activity, some other desire, some other alternative that we may deep down, according to our fleshly desires, want to do!
- Worship is costly, to our time, our other relationships, our finances, and many other things.
- But, God richly rewards us for the cost we pay to worship Him
- God richly rewards us with an intimate knowledge of Him that we gain, in far greater ways, even than disciplines study of word
- Worship is Costly, But God’s reward makes it a mere trifle.
- Bro & Sister, what are you willing to give that you might worship the Lord in an even greater way?
6) Worship requires Humility and Submission
- 11, they went in, they saw Christ, they fell down & worshiped
- The Conviction of Faith that led them to make such a sacrifice of worship, had finally given way to sight and they saw Christ
- Notice they fell down, not merely an eastern low bow,
- Literally they fell down full length on the floor
- These dignified, wealthy scholars, fell on their faces in the most abject display of humility and submission before… a child!
Listen
- when we pay the cost,
- when we come with a purpose to worship, God opens the eyes of our hearts, to see Christ as He truly Is, ansd that is an enrapturing of our souls
- and one day our physical eyes will be opened as well, and we will see Christ for who He truly is, face to face…
- There is an intimacy with God, a deeper, profounder experience of God that we gain, when we are willing to believe the evidence, to seek the Lord, to pay the cost, to come & worship!
There is a humility.
- They were some of the most knowledgeable scholars, wise men beyond the wisdom of ordinary men, men who had reason to boast of their intellect, their learning, their studies,
- yet they humbled themselves before the King, the Christ-child, the Living God…
- And so they worshiped.
- To worship is to ascribe the right value to Him – the Highest!
- To worship is to prize, to treasure God, as most valuable to us, above and beyond anything this world can offer
- Its what we were saying yesterday morning, Mary magnified the Lord, and rejoiced IN God her Saviour
- It is delighting in God, simply for who He Is, as God!
7) Worship Brings Opposition of both Unbeliever & Religious. {time}
- God warned the imposter k. Herod through the Magi’s appearance
- God warned the apathetic religious & intellectual leaders of Jerusalem and Judea, that their rightful King had arrived
Conclusion!
- God is seeking worshipers!
- God is moving the universe, the events in your life, to draw you to Come, To see, To savour Him, to understand your own sin, and the wonder of the gospel, that Christ died, to remove that sin, that you might be and become a worshiper of God, in Christ
- Worship is our rightful response to God’s working
- Worship begins with Faith
- Worship requires us to seek the Lord – in the sure hope that when we do, He promises we will find Him!
- Worship is a purposeful event
- Worship demands a cost
- Worship requires Humility and Submission
- But! BUT!!
- Worship of God, opens the doors to a deeper, profounder understanding of God, we know Him, truly, deeply, profoundly, when we worship
- Study of the scriptures brings us to an intellectual, reasoned understanding of God
- But Worship is a heart-knowledge, an experiential knowledge of God that goes beyond anything else!
- God is seeking worshipers,
- Will you come today, tomorrow, every day for the rest of your life and worship the Lord??
