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Merry Christmas 2016

 The Visit of the Wise Men
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 saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

“ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Matthew 2:1-12

There is no doubt of the purpose of their long journey for we read that they say; where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.

From this wise man whose mission was to worship the Son of God we can learn several things:

First: Worship is an act of those who are wise 
As to the number of these men  we do not know but as to their description we are left in no doubt, they were wise men.
One of the God’s complain towards Israel was: Deut32:29 Oh that they were wise....
2Tim.3:15 wise unto salvation...
It is wisdom to see ourselves in our true condition and our true need of God as Savior and turn to Him for repentance in faith. No man is truly wise until he puts God first in his consciousness, made the word of God supreme authority on his life, and come to know Christ as his own personal Savor and Lord. Only then like these wise men will we be in a position and condition to worship.

Second: Worship calls for Divine guidance

These men were led by a heavenly star until they were brought into the presence of the Son of God to present their gift of worship. The applications of this are obvious, we are not only to be made wise unto salvation but we are to have heavenly guide in our worship. The guide is our Bible, the divine inspired word of God which the Holy Spirit uses to lead us in the knowledge of all truth.

Third: Worship asks both separation and  rejection
These wise men at God’s call to worship and led by the star left their country, homes, loved ones and become strangers and pilgrims. Between them and the place to which God was leading them were many miles and desert travels. For the sake of the One whom they wished to worship they turned their backs on the comfort and civilization. They counted the prize well worth while when at last they were ushered into the presence of Deity clothed with humanity and prostrate themselves in adoration before Him.
Likewise today he who would worship God in accordance to His word must be prepared to suffer for the sake of wholehearted obedience to the Divine guidance. We might find opposition by friend and families, opposition from religious system and we might have to reject some of our society circles. The path of wholehearted obedience to God’s word has never been easy and cheap for the flesh but the joy of obedience is well worth that sacrifice.

Forth: Worship calls for both concentration of mind and determination of the will 
When these wise men finally arrived in Jerusalem the city of the great King they found that people there were not even aware of His arrival and they also manifested evil desires for both Herod and all Jerusalem were troubled by these question.
The religious leaders were able to quote to Herod from the scripture the place of birth but we see no desire in their hearts to join these wise men in their journey to worship. That just shows the apathy of the State and the apathy of the religious system.
But this apathy didn’t affected these wise men. They had concentrated their minds on their mission of finding and worshiping Christ. Their determination in their will didn’t allowed anything to stand on their way.
We too are to have concentrated mind and determining will in our pursue to worship the One and please Him. This concentration demands strict practice in order not to be allowed to be distracted. The WILL is also needed to oppose the evil, the devil, the world, the flesh....
The devil with his wicked spirits...
The world with its pleasures, riches and cares will try to diminish our desire to worship...
The flesh with its love of easy, self-esteem and self-indulgence...

Fifth: Worship is accompanied by Joy
We can read that once they were on their way again the star appear to them again and lead them to the place of Christ birth and the text says that they were filled with joy. From this we can conclude that being occupant with the Son of God not only leads us to worship Him but also fills the worshiper with holy and indescribable joy. King David says in Psalm 16:11 In your presence there is fullness of Joy...
Psalm 43:4

Sixth: Worship is conditioned upon seeing the Son of God

It was only when they saw the Son of God that they bow down in adoration before Him. Only when we as believers see the One through whom the Father has been pleased to reveal Himself that we are enabled to worship Him as we should.
All that can be seen of the Father is through Jesus Christ
All that can be experienced of the Father is through the Holy Spirit...

It is easy for us to have that vision being blurred out because of carelessness of our walk, worldliness of life, unconfessed sin....

Seventh: Worship is presentation of our gifts to God

We read that these men presented gifts; gold, frankincense and myrrh and the meaning of each of this gifts is beautiful.
Gold speaks of Divine, of purity and holiness
Frankincense gives its perfume when it comes in contact with fire...
Myrrh speaks of suffering and is connected with death and burial...



                         Worship - The Christians Highest Occupation

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