WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.240 We get impatient, seeking after God. 2 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.400 We get impatient, searching for God. 3 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:08.640 That when we get to Judah, when we get to town center, 4 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.080 we start looking for the thing that makes sense. 5 00:00:17.080 --> 00:00:20.000 Hey, welcome back to the Empower You Daily Devotional. 6 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:20.880 My name is Marcus. 7 00:00:20.880 --> 00:00:22.960 We're gonna be looking at Matthew chapter two. 8 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:24.640 My goal for Matthew chapter two 9 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:26.880 is to be able to bring out two profound truths. 10 00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:28.400 Please understand, we're not gonna be covering 11 00:00:28.400 --> 00:00:30.520 the whole chapter in this one, 12 00:00:30.520 --> 00:00:33.520 but what I do cover, I'm hoping to be able to dissect, 13 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:34.440 and let's get into it. 14 00:00:34.440 --> 00:00:36.440 Matthew chapter two, starting in verse one. 15 00:00:36.440 --> 00:00:39.280 Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, 16 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:40.640 in the days of Herod the king, 17 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:43.120 behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 18 00:00:43.120 --> 00:00:46.320 saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? 19 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:48.440 For we saw his star when it rose, 20 00:00:48.440 --> 00:00:50.060 and we come to worship him. 21 00:00:50.060 --> 00:00:51.360 When Herod the king heard this, 22 00:00:51.360 --> 00:00:53.400 he was troubled in all Jerusalem with him, 23 00:00:53.400 --> 00:00:55.720 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes 24 00:00:55.720 --> 00:00:57.720 of the people, he inquired of them 25 00:00:57.760 --> 00:00:59.600 where the Christ was to be born. 26 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:01.840 They told him, in Bethlehem of Judea, 27 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:03.480 for so it is written by the prophet, 28 00:01:03.480 --> 00:01:05.880 and you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, 29 00:01:05.880 --> 00:01:08.380 are by no means least amongst the rulers of Judah, 30 00:01:08.380 --> 00:01:09.760 for from you shall come a ruler 31 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:11.560 who will shepherd my people Israel. 32 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:13.800 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly 33 00:01:13.800 --> 00:01:16.600 and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared, 34 00:01:16.600 --> 00:01:18.440 and he sent them to Bethlehem, 35 00:01:18.440 --> 00:01:21.680 saying, go and search diligently for the child, 36 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:23.040 and when you have found him, 37 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:25.600 bring me word that I too may come and worship him. 38 00:01:25.600 --> 00:01:27.840 After listening to the king, they went their way, 39 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:30.680 and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose 40 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:32.480 went before them, until it came to rest 41 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:34.600 over the place where the child was. 42 00:01:34.600 --> 00:01:36.200 And when they saw the star, 43 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:38.640 they were rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, 44 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:39.640 and going into the house, 45 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:41.600 they saw the child with Mary, his mother, 46 00:01:41.600 --> 00:01:43.300 and they fell down and worshiped him. 47 00:01:43.300 --> 00:01:44.440 Then opening their treasures, 48 00:01:44.440 --> 00:01:47.420 they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh, 49 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:50.080 and being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, 50 00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:52.440 they departed to their own country by another way. 51 00:01:52.440 --> 00:01:53.480 And we're gonna stop there, 52 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:54.520 and the reason why we're gonna stop there 53 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:56.680 is because the truths I wanna bring out are these. 54 00:01:56.680 --> 00:02:00.200 Number one, we see here that God was able to speak 55 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:02.120 to these wise men. 56 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:04.240 Now, in Christian mysticism, 57 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:06.480 we hear that these three wise men were kings. 58 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:07.960 We have some theologians who believe 59 00:02:07.960 --> 00:02:11.000 that they were just scholars and astronomers in their time, 60 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:12.520 but whatever they may be, 61 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.520 we understand this, that they studied the stars, 62 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.320 and God was able to speak to them with a star. 63 00:02:18.320 --> 00:02:21.360 Now, the amazing thing on this is that God, 64 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.320 for almost a century, was not speaking to his people, 65 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:27.720 and the last time God spoke to his people 66 00:02:27.720 --> 00:02:29.740 was in the book of Malachi. 67 00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:31.400 And then they went 500 years 68 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:33.560 before hearing anything from God. 69 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:34.640 And yet, all of a sudden, 70 00:02:34.640 --> 00:02:37.600 God is speaking to Joseph, the father of Jesus. 71 00:02:37.600 --> 00:02:39.920 He's speaking to Mary, the mother of Jesus, 72 00:02:39.920 --> 00:02:41.880 and he's speaking to shepherds in the field, 73 00:02:41.880 --> 00:02:44.040 and he's speaking to wise men. 74 00:02:44.040 --> 00:02:46.400 Mind you, all these people are all in different locations, 75 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:47.920 and God is speaking to them, saying, 76 00:02:47.920 --> 00:02:50.480 hey, something big is coming. 77 00:02:50.480 --> 00:02:52.380 Hey, I'm about to do something radical 78 00:02:52.380 --> 00:02:55.260 that is gonna shake the foundations of this earth, 79 00:02:55.260 --> 00:02:56.380 and it is coming. 80 00:02:56.380 --> 00:02:58.180 And yet, we see here with these wise men 81 00:02:58.180 --> 00:03:01.740 that they are guided by astronomical phenomenons mentioned 82 00:03:01.740 --> 00:03:04.660 following that they came to an area. 83 00:03:04.660 --> 00:03:08.180 Now, that's from Matthew Henry's commentary, 84 00:03:08.180 --> 00:03:09.820 but what Matthew Henry is saying is this, 85 00:03:09.820 --> 00:03:13.900 is hey, God spoke to them and showed them which way to go. 86 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:15.360 Now, the question I have for you is this, 87 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:18.060 what signs and what is God showing you 88 00:03:18.060 --> 00:03:19.700 that you need to listen to? 89 00:03:19.700 --> 00:03:21.020 Unfortunately, these wise men, 90 00:03:21.020 --> 00:03:22.140 instead of following the star 91 00:03:22.140 --> 00:03:24.060 to go exactly where they were supposed to go, 92 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:26.340 decided that when they came to the city 93 00:03:26.340 --> 00:03:27.180 that it was supposed to be, 94 00:03:27.180 --> 00:03:28.720 and when they came to Judah, 95 00:03:28.720 --> 00:03:30.660 they decided instead to go look to the royalty. 96 00:03:30.660 --> 00:03:32.980 They decided instead to go to King Herod 97 00:03:32.980 --> 00:03:34.860 and to see what King Herod had, 98 00:03:34.860 --> 00:03:36.420 to see where the child was. 99 00:03:36.420 --> 00:03:38.420 Now, what we see is this, 100 00:03:38.420 --> 00:03:40.580 when it comes to faith today, 101 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:42.660 when it comes to believers today, 102 00:03:42.660 --> 00:03:44.940 we'll listen to God and we'll follow for so long, 103 00:03:44.940 --> 00:03:46.540 but when it comes to a point 104 00:03:46.540 --> 00:03:47.900 to where we feel like it makes sense, 105 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:50.700 we decide to listen and to do it on our own. 106 00:03:51.380 --> 00:03:52.820 When it comes to a dating relationship, 107 00:03:52.820 --> 00:03:54.460 when it comes to serving God 108 00:03:54.460 --> 00:03:56.540 and being a Christian in the dating world, 109 00:03:56.540 --> 00:03:58.740 we're asking God, God, would you send me a man 110 00:03:58.740 --> 00:04:00.900 or would you send me a woman who loved you? 111 00:04:00.900 --> 00:04:01.900 God, would you send me a man 112 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:04.060 or would you send me a woman who serves you 113 00:04:04.060 --> 00:04:06.180 and honors you and worships you? 114 00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:07.460 As men, we're like, God, 115 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:09.940 would you send me my Proverbs 31 wife? 116 00:04:09.940 --> 00:04:13.180 As women, I don't know what type of Proverbs 117 00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:15.540 or Psalm there is to say what we as men are, 118 00:04:15.540 --> 00:04:18.500 but you're looking for a godly King David type man. 119 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:19.899 And yet when it comes to seeing 120 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:23.060 that really good looking, really talented person, 121 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:24.460 we decide in our minds, 122 00:04:24.460 --> 00:04:27.220 oh, that must be who I've been praying for. 123 00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:29.740 That must be who God has set aside for me. 124 00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:31.060 Let's take it out of the dating realm 125 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:34.300 and let's put it into the occupational realm. 126 00:04:34.300 --> 00:04:35.900 Let's put it into our careers. 127 00:04:35.900 --> 00:04:39.980 We pray and we ask God diligently and feverishly, 128 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:43.220 God, would you give me the job that provides for my needs? 129 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:45.980 God, would you send me a job that I can live for you, 130 00:04:45.980 --> 00:04:47.340 but I can still enjoy? 131 00:04:47.340 --> 00:04:49.740 God, would you send me a job that I can go 132 00:04:50.580 --> 00:04:51.420 and I can be myself? 133 00:04:51.420 --> 00:04:56.420 And then we scour and we look hour upon hour on Indeed. 134 00:04:56.780 --> 00:04:58.300 And then when a job comes on 135 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:00.140 that offers either A, the most money. 136 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.800 Or maybe it gives us the hours that we want, we decide, hey, that must be from God. 137 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:09.440 Now, the crazy thing is this, whether it's relationally or it's occupationally, 138 00:05:09.440 --> 00:05:14.000 the things that we decide must be from God are things that we're like, 139 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:18.800 oh yeah, that's something I like, that's something I love, and it usually ends in disaster. 140 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:24.000 It usually ends with toxicity and it usually ends very unhealthy. 141 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.400 Now, the crazy thing and how it relates to this is these wise men went to King Herod. 142 00:05:28.640 --> 00:05:32.720 They went to a guy who was considered Herod the Great who actually found out was actually pretty 143 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:37.280 toxic. The very thing he wanted to do was to kill Jesus. The very thing he wanted to do was to kill 144 00:05:37.280 --> 00:05:43.200 this Messiah because he felt that this Messiah who was born was able to rival and to threaten 145 00:05:43.200 --> 00:05:48.320 the very power, quote unquote, that he had. And so many times we see that in our lives when we 146 00:05:48.320 --> 00:05:53.920 decide, oh, this must be from God and we jump in it head on and the toxicity happens. The reason 147 00:05:53.920 --> 00:06:00.000 why we get so offended that things are happening there or the reason why we get so sensitive when 148 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:05.760 people might be speaking ill of us or we're getting in a fight or we're in our boss's office 149 00:06:05.760 --> 00:06:10.560 day after day being hounded on how we're not doing a good job. We're worried. We're like, 150 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:15.120 God, I thought this was from you. God, I thought you said that this was a gift from you. And God's 151 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:19.520 like, no, no, no. I never told you to stop where you were going. You were supposed to keep seeking 152 00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:25.920 and keep searching until I told you this is it. And so the thing I see time and time again, 153 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:32.880 even in my own life, is we get impatient seeking after God. We get impatient searching for God that 154 00:06:32.880 --> 00:06:39.520 when we get to Judah, when we get to town center, we start looking for the thing that makes sense. 155 00:06:39.520 --> 00:06:43.760 If you've read any in scripture, you'll notice that God doesn't do anything that makes sense, 156 00:06:43.760 --> 00:06:47.840 but everything he does comes to be fruitful and everything he does comes to last. 157 00:06:47.840 --> 00:06:52.880 The second thing I want to bring out is a quote by Charles Spurgeon. He says this, 158 00:06:52.880 --> 00:06:59.440 it has been truly remarked that the shepherds did not miss their way. They came to Christ at once, 159 00:06:59.440 --> 00:07:04.800 while the wise men, even with a star to guide them, yet missed their way and went to Jerusalem 160 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:10.960 instead of to Bethlehem and inquired at the palace of Herod instead of at the stable where Christ was 161 00:07:10.960 --> 00:07:15.360 born. So when it comes to our walk with Jesus, when it comes to our worship, when it comes to 162 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:20.160 our Bible reading, when it comes to our prayer, when it comes to our personal devotional life, 163 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:26.800 a lot of times instead of seeking God and pouring over scripture to see what he has said for us, 164 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:31.040 a lot of times what we'll do to be able to substitute for that is we'll just throw on a 165 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:37.200 sermon or we'll just throw on a YouTube video or open Spotify and be able to play worship music. 166 00:07:37.200 --> 00:07:41.920 Instead of seeking God for who he is at the stable, we're trying to go to the palace. We're 167 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:47.520 trying to go to those mountaintop experiences and our entire walk is built on that. Brothers and 168 00:07:47.520 --> 00:07:53.520 sisters, be very careful. Be very weary that our entire walk with Jesus isn't built on trying to 169 00:07:53.520 --> 00:07:59.280 seek him in a palace when he's away at a stable. Our entire walk with Jesus should be, Lord, even 170 00:07:59.280 --> 00:08:03.200 though this feels dry, even though this feels messy, even though this feels dirty, even though 171 00:08:03.200 --> 00:08:08.000 it can stink sometimes, God, I'm going to seek you because God, I know you're in the midst of all of 172 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:14.080 that. So please be very cautious and be very weary about how you spend your time with Jesus. 173 00:08:14.080 --> 00:08:19.200 Are you seeking Jesus because you want to seek Jesus or are you seeking Jesus because you want 174 00:08:19.200 --> 00:08:24.720 to feel some type of emotion or feeling or butterflies in your stomach as you're seeking him? 175 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:28.400 Well, hey, thank you guys so much for joining us today. I really hope that this blesses you. I 176 00:08:28.400 --> 00:08:32.480 really hope that this speaks to you and I really hope it encourages you. Please know that the time 177 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:38.159 we spend with Jesus is a time where we're able to be able to be poured into by him and we're able 178 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:43.440 to grow in him. Jesus isn't lurking in the palace. He's not sitting in the palace, but Jesus is 179 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:47.280 working amongst the stable. Brothers and sisters, I love you guys so much. Thank you for taking 180 00:08:47.280 --> 00:09:01.200 time to listen to this. We'll see you guys next time.