Sermon Notes

"We Have Seen His Star"

By Brother Parrish Lee

December 8^th, 2013

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            Giving honor to God, Who is the Head of our lives, amen?  Giving honor to all of those who have gone on before us:  Our founding pastor and his wife and their family, our pastor and bishop, he and his family, Pastor Wilson, and Brother Kenneth, he and his family, those who have stood in the gap and made up the hedge, to allow their lives to be used, and even hazarded for the Gospel.  To all those who we read about in the Scriptures, who laid their lives on the line out of a love for the Lord and let themselves to be an example to us.  Giving honor to God for all of you who are in attendance in this building to present yourselves—to present ourselves before the Lord that He might minister to us and give unto us some Spiritual nutrition, that we might grow to be better servants—better sons and daughters—for Him.  That we might be fully built up in the faith, that on that day when Gabriel steps to the platform, and the angels behind him step, and we hear the last trump (1 Corinthians 15:52), the Bible says, from the archangel, and the dead in Christ rise, first, and then we who are alive and remain be caught up with them to meet them in the air, there, the Scripture says, ever to be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16).  Amen, amen, and amen.

            It is a wonderful day to come before God.  A wonderful day to know His name.  A wonderful day to be saved.  A wonderful day to have a hope in glory.  A wonderful day to know that Jesus is our Savior.  Continuing on with—of course, this is the Christmas season, and there’s all kinds of things going on; you almost wouldn’t know that it is the Christmas season, you would think that it’s the Black Friday season or the sale season or it’s the let’s make a profit and the bottom-line season, or the not-enough-shopping-days season, or the season of, “I’ve got to get mine and I ain’t worried about you getting yours.”  You would almost think that, but it started out as the birth of Christ, and from that it became Christ-mass, Christ-mass, time to worship Him season.  It is only fitting that we would talk about that this day. 

            Our scripture thought for the day:

Numbers 24:17           I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners, of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

            If you would bow your heads with me for just a moment:  Lord, we thank You, because, truly, You have been better to us than we ever could have imagined in our minds.  The scripture tells us that You are the giver of all god and perfect gifts.  We thank You for waking us up this morning, God.  we thank You for opening our eyes and letting us walk across the floor.  We thank You for granting us safe travel, even coming here.  We thank You for being able to assemble, because some places they cannot.  We thank You today for this worship that we offer unto You, and may it be a sweet-smelling savor in Your nostrils.  Lord, we thank You for the truth of Your Word, and we ask You at this time, as we go over Your Word, that it accomplish exactly as Your Word says, exactly what You sent it to do and not return unto You void. That we might empty this place ourselves being more nurtured, more fed, more instructed, more guided, having the chaff burned away and the wheat enrichened.  We pray and submit this claim in Jesus’ name, and everyone said, amen.

            Numbers 24:17, talking about the star.  Let’s get  little background on this:  the background for this Scripture is that fourteen hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Children of Israel, they were going through the Wilderness.  Now, as the Children of Israel were going through those lands, the people of those lands knew what had happened—they knew that it was a great thing that had happened—their deliverance from Egypt.  They knew what had happened, because they had spies all over the place and they wanted to know, and they knew that this people Israel, when they prayed to this God, amazing things happened.  There was this whole glory kind of a thing that went up from their altar, and it went all the way up.  They saw it; they knew:  Those people had something that no other people had.  In one of the lands that they went through, the land of the Moabites, there was this prophet there; this prophet’s name was Balaam.  Fourteen hundred years before the birth of Christ.  So, as the Children of Israel were coming through, the king of this land, Balak, he called on Balaam, “Come and curse this people for me.  No, we're not going to get that whole thing today, that would take longer than any of you re going to allow us to have.  Balak asked Balaam to curse them, but Balaam was a prophet.  No, we’re not going to get into all this, but in the midst of what was going on, there was a prophesy that came through the mouth of His prophet.  Yeah, yeah, he was a Moabite, he was not of the Children of Israel.  Before we get off kilter here, you mean to tell me that there were prophets in other lands that were not of Israel?  You mean to tell me that there was a prophet who didn’t come through the Red Sea?  You mean to tell me that?  You mean God can use whoever He wants to use?  You know, if church people aren’t careful, we can trip ourselves up into thinking that we’ve got a monopoly on God.  You might think, “If you don’t so it the way I say to do it, then you’re wrong!”  If we were to read this story again—and we’re not going to—starting at chapter 21, we would see that God opened the mouth of a jackass, and that jackass spoke (Numbers 22:28).  God did it.  If we read fourteen hundred years later, we see that used a rooster to crow (Matthew 26:74-75).  If we read around there, we see that God can make a tree whither (Matthew 21:19-20).  God can tell a storm, “Hold your peace.  Peace be still.” (Mark 4:39) God can.  No person, no people, nobody has a monopoly on Him whom we all have to meet.  He is God alone.  Having said that, His will, and His Word, take precedence.  We don’t dictate to Him, we listen to Him and we follow Him.  We’re still talking about, “We Have Seen His Star.”

            Let’s get back to this prophesy, Numbers 24:17:  I shall see Him but not now I shall behold Him- He’s talking about there’s coming a time when everybody’s going to be able to see this deliverance, this great special One.  There’s coming a time—not now, it was fourteen hundred years later, but there was no way for Balaam to know that—he was only called to prophesy, he was not called to know the end from the beginning—fourteen hundred years later, yeah, I shall behold Him, but not now.  He went on, and he spoke of this Star—let’s face it, a Star? the stars are up there is Heaven—the star signified deity.  Deity!  How great this thing as going to be, fourteen hundred years before the Lord was born of a virgin.  He talked about a scepter, well, who has a scepter? only the king, the royalty does.   So, whoever this was that was going to be coming, He was going to be a Deity, and, He was also going to be a King.  That’s amazing!  That’s amazing!  Then he says, “We’re going to behold Him; we’re going to see Him.”  Fourteen hundred years—he had to be happy about this; God’s letting a Moabite guy know this.  Amen, because, in these days, we don’t have to run out and find anyone, because, the Bible says, “In the latter days, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh.” (Joel 2:28) Don’t make me say it.  Don’t make me say that unless you obey the way it says to go, it does not stop that love and compassion of the Lord God Almighty from dealing with you.  I know, because I am a recipient of that. 

            Well, let’s fast forward 1400 years.   Still talking about, “We Have Seen His Star.”

Matthew 2:1-2            Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea 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.

            Excellent Scripture!  Excellent Scripture!

Matthew 2:3-12          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 Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired 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 may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 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.

            Behold, wise men came from the East for they "saw His star," and they followed.  The Scripture goes on to say that they came to the land, and they saw Herod.  They met up with Herod and they told Herod the story, and he got troubled; he got afraid.  Why?  Why? because Herod knew, “Hey, I might be king, but these guys, they have come, and they’re looking for he that is born king.  Hey, hey if that new guy gets out, and He becomes king, I could lose everything!  I could lose it all!”  The Scripture says, not only was Herod troubled, but all Jerusalem with him.  Now, why in the world would they be troubled at this king?  Well, well, well, could it be that they thought, “If we get this new king, He’s going to say some stuff that we don’t want to hear!  He’s going to bring us some stuff—hey, if He’s born king, whatever rules He says, everybody’s going to have to follow them, and we’re kind of used to following this Herod guy.”  That was way back then—not so.  The truth of the matter is that it is no different from today, because people don’t want Jesus to be the King of their lives, because they get to thinking, “Hey, hey!  If I accept Him as Lord, hey! I think I might lose!  I think I might have to let go.  If He takes over, I might not be able to make the decisions that I want to make, I’ll have to make them according to the Lord!  And then there’s conviction—I get convicted when I do wrong things, since I received the Lord.  And I think I might have to change!  I might lose everything!"  They should really ask somebody that has received the Lord, what it’s like when you receive Him.  What it’s like when you follow Him.  What its like when you accept Him.  What it’s like when you say, “Lord, yes!  Yes, Lord, yes!”  They should ask a Christian.  They should ask somebody who’s been touched by God.  They’ll tell them.  They’ll tell them; I’ll tell you what the blind man said—you know what the blind man said? he said, “Once I was blind but now I see.” (John 9:25)  It was the lame man that said—you know what the lame man said?  The lame man said, :Hey, there is power, power wonder working power in the blood of the lamb.”  We could go to the woman with the issue of blood, you know what she would say? She would say, “There is none like you.  No one else can touch me the way that you do.”  They should ask Lazarus, who was dead and buried for four days.  They should ask him what he might say.  You know what Lazarus would say?  “In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, I have the victory.”  Or they could ask any blood washed Christian here today, in 2013, what would they say, did they lose or gain?  They’d say, “I’ll give you an answer to that.  I’ll start at amazing grace, how sweet the sound, and end with some glad morning when this life is over I'll flyaway to a home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away.  You know why? because I have seen His star; I have seen His star.

            Let’s get back to the wise men.  I’ve got a quick sidebar about this wise men thing:

*Depending on what Bible you look at, it will call them anything from scholars to magi to astrologers.  Do you know what that means?  It means that you have to be careful what you put into your spiritual soul, that’s what that means.  If you have to be a scholar to follow a star, that means that you have to be educated to get to Jesus.  If you’ve got to be an astrologer,, that means look up to the stars.  God didn’t put any of that on us.  All it says, in the King James version, is that you have to be wise; all you’ve got to do is to make the right decision.  That’s all you got to do.*

            The Bible says that these wise men came from the East bearing gifts and did not stop until they found the Lord.  It doesn't say how many there were (we say that there was three because of the three gifts, but it doesn’t say how many there were and usually, they would travel in much larger groups than three—they’d have a whole caravan and stuff), and it doesn’t say that they started together.  They might have been in different areas of the land, and they might have been in different areas of their lives.   They all were looking, and they saw His star and as they were coming, they met up together.  It doesn’t even say how far they came.  All it says is that they saw His star, and they followed it, and they came to worship.  That’s what it says.  That’s the requirement that made them wise; they followed Him, and they worshipped Him.  That was the requirement:  Following and worshipping, according to this Scripture here.  We had men's fellowship yesterday, like Mike was talking about, and one of the bothers brought his son, so I asked him, “Hey, how do you know they these guys were really wise?  I mean, the Bible says that they were wise, but how do you know?” and he just turned and looked at me (he didn’t even crack a smile—he didn’t even get smart with me), and he said, “They knew better than the king, because they knew that that King was worthy of worship.”  You know what I’ve got to say about that?  Good job children's church teachers, and parents that are teaching the youth—your own children.

            The Bible says in verse 11, here, “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.”  So, of course, they fell down, and worshipped, and they presented unto Him gifts.  That “We Three Kings,” song, that’s an awesome song, talking about hose gifts.  When you look at gold, god has the significance of a kingdom—you give that to a king, at least, earthly kings—every king here on earth.  Frankincense, frankincense was a little different, because frankincense actually came from the Old Testament.  Frankincense was used for a sacrifice unto Almighty God—that was part of the incense that they burned as part of the offering to the Great God, to the Great King, and they presented frankincense to this child, who had that star.  Myrrh, myrrh was something that was to accompany part of that whole death thing.  They saw, when they presented it to Him, that there was the significance that this King, Who was worthy of both Heavenly praise and earthly praise, that this King was going to have some kind of  bridge between life and death.  “Somewhere along the line—don’t know how it’s gong to happen—but this one is going to do something with life and death!”  That’s what this was signifying.  So, there was the deity, there was the kingdom, and there was the bridge of life and death.

            There is one thing that the wise men knew—however many there were, however far they came—the wise men knew that there was nobody in the land that they came from like this Jesus. They knew there was no one in the lands that they were going through like this guy.  This guy, Heaven signified that He was special.  They knew, when they got to Jerusalem, and they talked to Herod, who was king, he wasn’t a king like this King.  The wise men knew this, and they knew that they couldn’t and wouldn’t and shouldn’t stop until they found Him.  Now, you’ve got to know, yeah, they talked to many people, and they talked to Herod, but along the way, they knew that there was none like this One.  This is special, because, when they saw Him, He was just born.  You know what this whole story signifies? You might, especially if you’ve been a Christian for a young period of time, you might find that, “You know, I come to Christ, and there’s all these wonderful things and it’s new and it’s fresh, and it’ great and it’s exciting, and there’s so many possibilities an arrangement with God can do.  It’s great, and it’s special.  I haven’t gotten there, yet—that's the young Christ in your life.  Or maybe if you found Him a little bit later when he was there in the Temple, and, in the Temple, it says He was there, and He was disputing and teaching and they marveled at His wisdom.  You might find Him there, as He gives you answers for your life, reasons for all the questions and problems and situations that you’re facing—the young Christ.  Or you might find him as He’s preparing and feeding the multitudes—four thousand and seven thousand people—that you find in Christ that He will supply all your needs.  You might find Him at the cross—His arms stretched wide—showing you love and compassion and covering everything in your life, taking away your sins and you, you, you, you, you, you, you, and you, and it’s personal and, yes, it’s precious.  Or maybe you might find him like all the rest of us.  You know what?  I found Him, after he rose, and that signifies—you know what? I’ve been a Christian for quite a while, and I’ve face some big problems; I’ve faced some real problems.  I need a risen-type of Savior to get over here and take care of this stuff.  I need a God that I can turn to and say, “You now what? I’ve got BIG problems to bring before You.”  You know what God’s answer is?  I’ve got a BIG solution to meet your needs.”

            So, no matter where you are in your life—sure, the wise men found Him at this point, and then there was people that found Him at all the other points—He’s always there to minister and to give you what you need.  So many of us—sure, it’s the Christmas season, but there’s some people that they go through things at Christmastime, and there’s some folks, they go through things and it ain’t even got to be Christmastime.  They face things.  If you’re somebody like myself, then you want God to be in here all the time.  You want Him to minister to you, thicker than syrup on pancakes.  You want Him to cover you with mercy and love glory, because if you…

Luke 2:25-35  And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.  And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.  And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.  And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

            Okay, this just gave us the testimony of a man named Simeon.  It goes on to say that the Holy Ghost had spoken to him, and he was a devout, dedicated guy.  The Holy Ghost spoke and told him that he wouldn’t see death until he saw the Lord’s salvation. 

Luke 2:36-38  And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.  And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

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                           Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd