"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."                                                               Matthew 2:1-2

People mostly see this text as a Christmas text; however, I really don't want to preach so much a Christmas sermon.  I would rather preach a sermon on "Faith in Christ."  In this Scripture we see three things that I want to point out today:

• There were wise men from the east

• They followed a star

• They were looking for the King of the Jews, whom they would worship

We read this text but we only skim the surface.  We do not study enough to find out  what the Word of God is trying to tell us.  I want to preach about wise men who seek after Jesus.

Isn't it ironic how we get thing out of whack!  Traditions creep in and we lose sight of what is right and what is wrong.  The song says, "We Three Kings of Orient Are, Bearing gifts we traveled afar."  Where in the Bible does it say that there is any truth in that song?  I cannot find anywhere to prove the song is true.  Now, I am not saying the song is bad, and I am certainly not telling you to burn all your songbooks that have this song written in them.  I am only trying to point out that the song is not Biblical.

We Three Kings --  Where do you see that in Scripture?  There were kings and the kings had wise men.  "Wise men" translated in the Hebrew language means "Magi".  These were fortune-tellers and astrologers.  Now the song says there were three.  Where did we get the number three?  Is that written in Scripture?  I believe they get the number three from the three gifts mentioned -- gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  It may have been dozens of wise men, or there may have been two.  There is no specific number mentioned in Scripture.  Then we read, "From Orient are."  It is written that they traveled from the East.  When I think of the Orient, I think of China, Japan, Korea and the Far East of Asia.  It is commonly thought that the wise men came not from the Far East, but from the Middle East, possibly from Babylon.

A few years ago Lisa, Candace, nephew Jacob and myself were to the Newport Aquarium.  You know how they have these rest stops along the highway where you stop for refreshments and restroom facilities.  We stopped at one.  In the middle of the building is a huge map; on the map is an arrow pointing at a spot reading "You are Here."  As God is my witness, our nephew looked up at us and said, "How do they know where we are at?"  Some of you who are not laughing are wondering the same thing -- I wondered that, too.  But the answer is this -- the arrow is pointing to a spot on the map that coincided with the location of the rest stop.  It is not that they are aware of where you are, but rather they know that if you are reading the sign then you would have to be there at that location.  There was a guy near us who heard the conversation and he started to "belly-laugh".  Something similar to that happened two thousand years ago.  The wise men came from the east and were following a star.  They felt that the star would lead them to the King of the Jews and they wanted to come an worship Him.  Why do you thin they were following the star?  I would like to believe that the star was more than a heavenly body.  I believe God used that star to point from heaven and guide them to where His Son was lying in a manger.

I was thinking this morning, there are people who are seeking after something.  They may not be Christians, but people in general who are looking for something.  They may worship an idol of stone, nature, the sun and moon, or even the trees, but they are searching for something to worship.  Sadly, come people never find what they are looking for.  They will allow the things that are not real to take the place of the real things.

How did the wise men know to follow the star?  If they were astrologers, they studied the night sky.  These were men seeking divine knowledge.  To these magi the star was something worth checking out.  They remembered the prophecy mentioned in Numbers 24:17 "I shall behold him, but not now: there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth."  This verse doesn't mean much to me, but to those wise men something clicked.  They remembered the prophecy so they were seeking the answer.  If we were wise men following a star, we probably would go in a circle as the earth turns.  I believe the star stood still over the baby Jesus.  Who are we to say that God cannot shine a light specifically designated to point the way for those to find Jesus.  The wise men apparently had heard the prophecy that had been recorded for hundreds of years, and they knew that they were looking at a supernatural star.  I said all of that to say this -- why did they bring offerings of gifts to Jewish people?  Remember, I said they were probably seekers of truth.  I feel that they wanted to know the deeper truths of life.

Today, so many religious people become blinded to the truth.  All these false prophets and religious followings are wrong.  I was listening to Cross Talk on WDFB this week.  A man of God was asked the question from an irate called to the program, "Do you mean to say the god of Muslim is not God?"  I appreciate what the man's answer was.  He said, "I make no apologies to claim the one true God of the Bible."  There are no other gods.  Our Lord himself said, "Thou shalt not worship any other Gods before me."

The wise men were seekers of truth.  They didn't want to be bound by blind faith.  Wise men seek Jesus. Wise women seek Jesus.  Wise boys and girls seek Jesus.  When people come to Jesus they will see the light, the supernatural working of God. 

The Bible gives us Christians the command to "Let our light so shine that man may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in Heaven."  How will others ever see Jesus Christ if they don't see Him in us?  Therefore, you see, the first thing the wise men saw was a supernatural thing. 

The second thing was they heard the story and the third and most important part is they stepped out in faith.  They did not know what to expect but they stepped out in faith relying on the Hebrew text they had heard.  The night I went to the altar, I stepped out in faith.  The night Ken Crigger called out to the Lord from the seat of his pickup truck, he stepped out in faith.  The time Roy Cope called out to the Lord, he stepped out in faith.  Everyone who comes to the Lord steps out in faith.  What about you, unsaved person, will you step out in faith today?  Remember when Jesus was walking on the water and Peter said, "Lord if that be you, bid me to come to Thee."  Jesus said, "Come on, Peter."  He didn't tell Peter that He would hold him up to keep him from going under.  Jesus said, "You come to Me, Peter."

Hebrews 11:6  "But without faith is is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." 

Once the wise men saw with their eyes and with their hearts, they had no choice but to worship the Christ child.  When we count our blessings, how can we not worship Him?  Wise men will seek Him.

Sermon edited by Mary King