Wise Men Still Seek Him! Mt 2:1-2 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, 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."

December 25th is known as “Christmas Day!”♦2010 Gallup poll found that 93 percent of

Americans celebrate Christmas!♦1 out of 3 people in the world celebrate

Christmas!♦Now, not everyone celebrates this day for

the same reason, but most everyone we know celebrates it in some way!

♦Many as a day of fun with family & gifts♦Many as a day to remember the birth of

Jesus♦Many as a day to relax and enjoy time off

The Bible does speak a lot about the birth of Jesus!

♦It was prophesied in the Old Testament!♦Is. 7:14 ♦Micah 5:2♦It was fulfilled in the New Testament!

♦Mt. 1:18-25♦Lk. 1:26-37♦Great detail is given surrounding the birth of

Jesus!♦Mt. 2:1-10♦Lk. 2:1-39

With many already having these things

on their minds, I would like for us to use this opportunity to study the fact that

“wise men/women still seek Him!”

I. Wise Men Still Approach Him!♦The story of the wise men is most likely one we

have all heard many times and yet I wonder if we have ever really gotten to “the meat of the message?”

♦When asked how many there were, most will say three even though the text doesn’t number them (could have been 2 or 20!)

♦Most can tell you what they gave Jesus, gold, frankincense and myrrh!

♦It is fascinating to me “who” these men were! “Wise men from the east” (Mt. 2:1)

The ones that do the most are often considered the least!♦These men are outsiders and yet they were

“looking” for Savior to come!♦We find this happening many times!

♦The sinful woman vs. Simon the Pharisees♦Lk. 7:36-48

♦The priest & Levite vs. Good Samaritan♦Lk. 10:25-37

♦Mt 8:10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

Most commentators believe these men came from ancient

Babylon!♦This would have been the region where the children of Israel were held in captivity by the Babylonians!

♦Where Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel and Ezekiel once lived!

♦Most believe this is how they knew a Savior was coming and why they were looking for Him!

♦They didn’t let the difficulty of the journey hinder them from coming to worship the Savior!

II. Wise Men Still Adore Him!Adore = to love and respect deeply (Oxford)

♦Even though they had never met Him and likely know little about Him, their desire is to “worship the King!” (Vs.2,11)

♦Isn’t it amazing that these men, not even being Jews understood how important it is to “worship the One born King of the Jews”

♦Wouldn’t it be amazing if people today would come to do the same!

Many Christians can learn a great deal by the actions of these men!

♦Jesus is “King of kings & Lord of lords!”♦Rev. 19:16 And He has on His robe and on

His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

♦Our longing and desire should always be to come and bow down before Him, and to worship and glorify the King!

♦Ps 29:2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.

III. Wise Men Still Adorn Him!Adorn = to make more attractive or beautiful; to

decorate (Oxford)♦These men didn’t come to Jesus only

seeking what they could “get” they came to Jesus to “give!” (Mt. 2:11)

♦Gold ♦Frankincense ♦Myrrh♦Jesus was far more valuable to them than

their treasures!

“What does the church have to offer me?♦Far too many come only asking this

question! Yet what we should be asking is, “what can I offer the church?”

♦When we come to God we must learn to not only come to get, but to give!

♦Act 20:35 "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

IV.Wise Men Still Acknowledge!♦They may have went there, not truly knowing the

God of Heaven, but they knew Him when they left! (Mt. 2:12-15)

♦They were too wise to believe Herod over God! (Mt. 2:7-8)

♦Act 5:9 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.”

♦Act 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.”

I would imagine that this encounter forever changed their lives!♦Has our encounter with the Lord forever

changed our lives? Are we willing to acknowledge Him even when no one else will?

♦Mt 10:32-33 "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

♦Jn 12:42 ... but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;

Conclusion:♦May we never forget that “Wise men still seek

Him!”♦Pr. 8:17 “I love those who love me, and those

who seek me diligently find me.”♦1 Chron. 16:11 “Seek the Lord and his

strength; seek His presence continually!”♦Truly there is a great deal we can learn from

these wise men and how we should respond to Jesus!

♦If you are not yet a Christian, today is the day!

Wise Men Still Seek Him! “But the

fool”

Ps. 14:1 The fool has said in his

heart, "There is no

God."