Sermon in Seattle 05.01.2014

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us quiet this morning in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in opening prayer and thanksgiving.

Dear Heavenly Father, we as your children come before you on this first Sunday in the new year with much thanks, dear Father. Thanks that we, above all, as your children, can yet travel as children of Thee, children of God, on the way that leads to heaven. That you have given your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus, so that we could have this everlasting hope of heaven. Dear Father, here are our thanks. And we pray that you would continue to help each one of us in our journey of faith. Wherever our place of watching may be. There in our homes, there at school, in the workplace, in retirement, in sick beds and in faraway places. Wherever we may be, help us and protect us in faith, dear Father. And give us strength to always be able to believe our sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

This gospel, dear Father, is that power that gives us strength to believe. The power of Thee, the power of God, unto salvation for all who believe. We also, this morning, dear Father, yet remember the many temporal blessings that you have richly and freely given to all of us. We thank you, dear Father, for our homes and families and friends and neighbors. And all of the blessings in our lives. And above all, dear Father, again we thank you for the Lord Jesus.

And we yet enclose our prayers in that prayer that he has taught, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Amen.

For our study of God's Word this morning, we'll read from the second chapter of Matthew, from the first 12 verses. Yet with that prayer of faith that God would bless our gathering and open His Word according to His will, not to His eternal glory. These words in Jesus' name are as follows:

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.

When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah. For out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently for the young child, and when ye have found him, bring me word again that I might come and worship him also.

And when they had heard the king, they departed. And lo, the star which they had saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Amen.

Amen.

Today, in our church calendar, we have this church holiday tomorrow of Epiphany. And this is a visual, visible appearance of God. Here, this account from Matthew tells us how these wise men came from the east. It doesn't tell us how many there were. We often think, I think, three, with being they had the three gifts. And it doesn't tell us exactly where they were from. Further to the east, some think over near Babylon, or perhaps even that they may have been astronomers from Persia. But the important matter is they came to seek the Lord Jesus.

Today is the, in the newsletter, how it relates, how Jesus is the light of the world. And so they came to find this Jesus. Since they came to Jerusalem first. And perhaps we can think that this would have been a very good guess that surely Jesus must be born in Jerusalem, the holy city, where many, many Jews and so much history was with the city of Jerusalem.

But Luther, even in his time, taught how we wouldn't seek God's kingdom according to our minds, that it's in Jerusalem or Rome or there where in the, with the Pope of their time or these different churches. This is where one's mind would lead. But the way that leads to Jesus that shows Jesus is God's holy word.

And these wise men saw this star and they came to Jerusalem then saying, Where is he that is born of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.

So Herod and these other scribes and Pharisees, they had all heard of these events as well of Jesus. They knew and Herod was worried since he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Herod wasn't worried in a good way about his own matters of faith. But Herod was worried that this young baby Jesus, this Messiah was being born thinking this earthly king had come and was going to replace him as king.

So he gathered all the chief priests and scribes together and he demanded of them where Christ should be born. We can see here then, what did they do? It says they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet. They turned to God's word.

We can see how even years before, many years before, the Old Testament prophets had prophesied, they had told of the future about this coming baby Jesus. Even down to the details of where he would be born.

The prophet Micah, in the fifth chapter, speaks about Bethlehem. And this is the same portion that Matthew referred back to. But thou Bethlehem, Ephrata, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth have been of old from everlasting.

Already from the beginning of time, we know, even there in the Garden of Eden, with the first human pair, Adam and Eve, God had promised this Savior, the Messiah, the Good Shepherd, after their fall into sin, that they wouldn't have everlasting perdition and hell, but they could have hope of life in heaven, the promised Savior.

And now this little baby Jesus had been born, and the wise men came to find him. So they gathered all around, and they saw then that in God's word it said he would be born in Bethlehem.

And so then Herod, he called the wise men privily, so he called them privately. He was wondering about what time this star appeared, this bright light. We don't know what conversation took place, but I'm sure he was interested in the details that, where did you find out about this? What is your plan? When you find him, what are you going to do? And so forth.

So he told them then, he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently for the young child. Then he wanted them to tell him when they found him, to bring word back to him.

And again, Herod was this king history tells us, Herod the Great, he wasn't a good king. From this event here in the Bible, when these wise men came and found the baby Jesus, they didn't go back to him as we see, we'll get to. And Herod then, we'll see also, took and had all the babies slayed, for he didn't want baby Jesus to become king and take over his kingship.

Here we see the heart of Herod. It was evil and wicked.

So these wise men then came. They departed. This is when they had heard the king. So they listened to what he had to say. And then they departed. Continued to make their way towards Bethlehem.

And Bethlehem wasn't very far. It was only a handful of miles from Jerusalem. It wasn't hundreds of miles.

And they found then, it says they, this star which they saw in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

And when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother. These wise men wanted to see the baby Jesus, the Lord of light, their Savior.

We can see you, we could ask them or hear how will the king, Herod, and all of these scribes and chief of priests. Why didn't they also go to see the baby Jesus? They were in the darkness of unbelief and couldn't see Jesus as the shepherd, the Savior of the world.

Paul in his letter to the believers in Corinth, even kind of speaks of this matter. How it's darkened. This matter of faith, the light of Christ is darkened to those in unbelief.

In his fourth chapter in the second letter of Corinthians, Paul writes in this way, verse 1, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

And then he continues, For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

And he speaks further then about this light. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Christ hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Dear fellow travelers, as we begin this new year, we can do so with much thanks that through faith, through the Holy Spirit, we've been able to comprehend this little baby Jesus as our Savior, who lives and dwells with us as his children.

Paul continues then about where we keep this treasure. He says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

Because we have this light, the light of the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus dwelling in the heart of each of us as God's children. It doesn't make us better people. It says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the power may be of God. It's to God that the glory belongs and there's nothing in us.

God's love.

But as we begin this new year, we can do so with much thanks. Thanks that we've been preserved this past year as God's children. That we've been able to continue believing sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

And even this morning, yet believe all your sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

We have a good and a gracious Heavenly Father. So much reason for thanks.

So many on the outside that are blinded, unable to see.

Today in our Sunday school even, we visited about the kingdom of God. But how does one find God's kingdom? It's not through divine revelation and prayer. But through His children, through these disciples here on earth, God's children.

We read that account where Paul was traveling on the road to Damascus. And how Jesus stopped him on the way. He was with that bright light, was blinded. Jesus could have forgave him right then and there. But He didn't. He sent him into the city, into that city of Damascus, to find a believer, a child of God.

And Paul had, while he was in the city then, had prayed. He had this vision. Told us that a man would come and lay his hands on him and preach the gospel.

Here in this account in Acts, he had seen a vision, this was Saul, of a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight.

Then we read how after he received the gospel and believed it, he was filled with the Holy Ghost. And it says, and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales, and he received sight for with.

Then came eyes of faith.

Faith.

But before that, first he had to find a believer, and then to hear the gospel and believe it. And then begins the walk of faith, traveling as a child of God.

But Paul even speaks about how this is a mystery. It's hidden to those on the outside. How could it be so simple that all you have to do is believe your sins forgiven? That's too easy. There must be something else that you can do.

But God has, in his wisdom, hidden this from those on the outside. And we would be the same, dear brothers and sisters, if not for God's grace, that he's given us this gift.

Here, it says, but we preach Christ crucified, or actually before that in the 21st verse. For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

And then he continues on how the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.

But unto them which are called, both the Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Herod and all his wise men, not the wise men that were visiting Jesus, but these learned and educated scribes and Pharisees, they all had gathered together wondering where Jesus was. But they were unable to go and see.

And even for these wise men then, they weren't too proud to go into that home. Here in our text, in the 11th verse, it says, And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him.

They weren't too proud to visit this lowly kingdom, this baby Jesus, the Savior of our world, of the world. But they fell down and worshipped him. They were happy. They had found the Christ child, the baby Jesus, the Savior.

They gave him then these gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. There's been some that have even shared, is there significance with these gifts? And I don't know per se if there is. I mean, some have thought that the gold would represent Jesus' kingship. And the frankincense or incense a spice of prayers, Jesus' priesthood, and myrrh and his sacrificial death.

But this isn't the key message here. The key message, dear brothers and sisters, is the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd of His kingdom, the Good Shepherd of you and I here today.

Today, we can be uplifted and happy. Each of you in your place of watching. Many of you school children will be going back to school. Some of you have already started and you'll be going back to school tomorrow.

And then back to work for many, or we've been working through the holidays at times as well, but the new year begins in earnest. And we make these new resolutions and set goals, perhaps many and new promises.

We can look forward with hope and with joy. That your journey yet continues heavenward. It pays to believe your brothers and sisters. Be uplifted and comforted in faith and believe all your sins forgiven and latest doubts in Jesus' name and precious blood.

When we believe as such, gathering those blood drops of Jesus, the final reward is that home in heaven.

So continue and we pray even as we enter the new year that God would protect and preserve each one of us in faith. That we could continue always as children of God this coming 2014 and all of our lifetime.

The only way to heaven is through faith, believing this gospel.

Battle against sin, dear brothers and sisters. Flee sin. And when sin comes and attaches as it always does and often does, don't allow it to remain on your heart and conscience.

But go and speak to a brother or sister in faith. Care for the matters as they arise and believe them forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

And in this way then, day by day and sometimes moment by moment, we travel this journey of faith.

This Lord Jesus is the light of our faith. And He even speaks, we'll talk finally even in closing these words that He had from John as we gather here shortly for communion.

Speaks again about the light. But if we walk in the light as He, Jesus, is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

This blood of Jesus is powerful, dear brothers and sisters. It is the best medicine. There's great power in this blood. More power than any power on earth. It has the power to free one from sin, from unbelief. And bring one to the home in heaven through faith.

Faith.

And also for my own part, desire to hear the same gospel. Can I also believe my sins forgiven? I desire to believe along with you.

And as we come to this Lord's Holy Supper here today, to partake of the body and the blood of our Lord Jesus in a spiritual sense, come freely and uplifted, believing sins forgiven, in Jesus' name and blood.

In Jesus' name and ever-blessed name, Amen.

Let us close our morning service in the Lord's benediction, saying, The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.