"A Star Is Come" By Brother Parrish Lee December 4th,
2016
But,
Pete, could you throw back up
that verse? Just the verse to the last
song we just sang? Verse 1.
I’m sorry, verse 2. “Over every thought, over every word May
my life reflect the beauty of
my Lord.” Why? Because you mean more to me…
You, Lord, mean more to me… “You
mean more to me than any
earthly thing.” It
would be easy to run through
that song, you know what I mean? It’s
easy to go through that song, but, you look at those words—that’s what
the
message is about today, by the way.
Thank you, Sonia. That’s what
the
message is about. Over every thought and
over every word, may my life reflect the beauty of my Lord. You
know, I—just quickly, just at
the time when—this is just the intro.
This is the time when they put all kinds of Christmas
commercials and
movies and stuff on TV, if you watch TV.
They put stuff on, they call them, “feel good stories.” You see those in the paper, and people talk
about the “Christmas spirit,” but I don’t hear very many people out
there
that--they’re trying to put another sale up, or trying to sell another
song, or
trying to get people to watch their show—I don’t hear too many people
calling on
the name of the One who brought that whole spirit in the first place. I’m just saying, this morning.
Just saying. Giving
honor to God, giving honor
to the Supreme, wise, the Almighty, the great, and, to me, the lover of
my soul
that we sang, the merciful one that we sang, the all-forgiving one, the
One to
whom all things are possible, the One who knows no defeat, the One who
is able
to minister to us no matter where we are, giving honor to Him who just
waits
for us to come to Him, the One who is the very definition of love,
giving honor
to You, Almighty God, to You, Lord Jesus, giving honor to you this
morning. Giving honor to all of those
who have come and gone before us. For,
here in this ministry, our founding pastor, he and his family; our
pastor, he
and his family; those who have come to stand in the gap and make up the
hedge;
and not a little, but more so, those who have passed down this precious
word,
either through persecution, or dedication, or just straight-up love, or
even at
the threat of losing their life, the Word of God was more precious. As Job said, I have esteemed the words of His
lips more than my necessary food. And,
giving honor to all of y’all, who come and present yourselves before
that same
one and true God, to minister to all of y’all accordingly, to give unto
you the
desires and petitions that you put before Him this morning. I
have an apology; I need to
apologize right off. I apologize because
I thought I had sent out the theme of the month to everybody. I thought—that’s why it’s not down here,
that’s
why it’s not over here. I thought that
everybody got it a while ago. But, our
theme for the month is from the Book of Matthew, chapter two, and verse
number
ten. That is our theme for the month. Matthew 2:10
When they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy. “When
they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”
That’s our theme for the month.
And, truly, there could be many things:
Joy to the World, O, Come, All Ye Faithful, there could be
many, many,
many, many, many, many themes, but, we have chosen this to be our
one—I’m sure,
one of our themes for this month. God
will lay on our hearts, and, He will continue to give unto us, this
entire
month, and, truly, for the rest of our lives.
Themes for the month, personally, to have between us and
Him. But this will be the theme for this
congregation this month. Our
Scripture theme for today is
going to be from the Book of this same chapter, Matthew chapter two,
and we’re
actually going to go from verse one, down to verse ten: Matthew 2:1-10
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. 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 saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” If
we could just bow our heads for just a moment.
Lord, truly, truly, You are the Almighty God, and we come
before You
because You are the One that we ought to turn to. And,
this morning, truly there are many
needs. Lord, there are sick people,
there are people that need a healing, there are people that have an
ailment,
there are people that need deliverance here today.
And those that we know of today. Some
of us are even in the hospital this
morning or in the nursing homes. Lord,
we bring it all before You this morning because there is nothing too
hard for
You. We thank You for the opportunity to
come and praise Your Holy, magnificent, wonderful, and healing Name. We
thank You for that, God, for
truly You alone are worthy. And, God, we
present ourselves to You and we ask that You minister to us according
to Your Spirit. And, as we go over Your
Word this morning, we
ask, as it is said in Your Word, that it would not return unto You
void, but
accomplish that to which You sent it.
And we present ourselves with a heart of thanksgiving and
ministering. And we ask and pray and claim
all this in
Your mighty name, the name of Jesus. And
every one said, amen. Amen, amen. It’s
Christmas-time. It’s Christmas-time! The month of December is like a ding, and
sales and papers and commercials and everybody’s talking—well, not
everybody. Some people hate this time of
year. Some people—and not all bad, some
people,
this is a time of sorrow. They’ve had
tragedy at this time of year. Different
things have ruled them at this time of year.
Christmas can represent a bad memory in some.
And, in some, because maybe they didn’t get
what they wanted, or they lost a loved one at this time of year. There’s many reasons, not all bad, not all
selfish,
not all just about a single person.
Some, yes, some very much so, especially if you didn’t get
what you
wanted and you’re going to hold it against people.
Enough said about that. But,
you know, this is the time of year that
the world sets aside and calls it Christmas-time. Or,
some people have Hanukah-time. There is
now even a Kwanzaa-time. And, the
guys at work told me there is also Festivus-time. For
those of you who don’t know, that was something
out of some TV show. Yeah, one of them. Yeah, but, this is a time of
festivities. And, it’s amazing, it’s
amazing how the opportunity is there. Point #1: A
Star Foretold So,
we talked today from verse
ten, our theme, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding
great
joy.” Exceeding great joy.
Now, to set a little bit of a stage, here,
this isn’t the only time that this star was foretold, forecast about. It’s very important and it is so important
that even in the time of Moses, he let the people know, there is coming
a time
when there is going to be a special star.
From the Book of Numbers. Yes,
thousands of years before the Lord Jesus was on the scene, before Mary
was
conceived of the Holy Ghost, before the angels were on the mountain,
thousands
of years before that, Moses prophesied about this star.
And the Bible says: 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.
There
is coming a ruler. Something brilliant and
magnificent. Something with power. Something with authority.
Somebody is coming, and He’s going to be able
to smite every enemy. Yes, He’s coming
out of Israel. And, man, is it going to
be special! It is going to be
amazing! So amazing, thousands of years
before it comes, I can’t wait to talk about it!
Can’t wait to talk about it, thousands of years before it
comes, like a
preview of all time. And,
so, in Matthew chapter two, verse
ten: Matthew 2:10
When they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy. This,
this Scripture is actually a
testament, testament of the Wise men, who came from the East. These wise men who came from the East, it
says they came to look for the star of the Lord. Now,
in popular tradition, they say there
were three, and it talks about the three places they came, and it talks
about
their potential names, they don’t really know for sure, that came about
later
on, a little bit down in history; we don’t really know how many wise
men there
were. It’s important to know that. It’s important to know that it might have
been two, because it says men, it might have been fifty.
We don’t know, really. Tradition
holds it at three, because there
was three things that was presented to the Lord. But,
we don’t know how many actual men came,
following the star of the Lord. It’s
important to know, it’s important to know that it might not have been
just a
few, but it’s also important that it didn’t give a specific number,
because it
doesn’t matter how many, it doesn’t matter.
All that matters is that they should come.
That’s what matters. So,
point number one was A Star
Foretold, and that’s what Matthew was talking about.
Now, when they came after the star, it’s
important to know that the star represented something to these people. It represented hope, and it represented love,
and it represented a ruler, and it represented direction, and it also
represented a king. You see, it was a
popular thing to say—see, they said that Caesar had a star over him. And, Alexander the Great, he had a star over
him, so, all the rulers wanted to have a star over them.
And they had the names of the stars, and they
called them all kinds of different things, all kinds of—the study of
astronomy
has been around for years and years and years, but, you have to know
that,
before it became popular, the Bible said that there shall come a star
out of
Judah. This set the tone for everything. Point #2: Whatever It Takes And
when these came, and they
found the star which they were looking for, they did not hold back
their joy at
finding the star. When they found the
star, they brought their thankfulness, and they brought their praise,
and they
brought their worship, they brought the fact that they were satisfied
that the
hopes and dreams that they may have had of being with God was finally
on the
scene. That’s what this star represented
to the wise men. And they wouldn’t
hold—What’s
it like to finally find and have what you have been looking and waiting
for? What is it like?
Oh, don’t hold back! But they
worshipped with exceeding great
joy. So, whatever it takes, whatever it
takes. How
long did these wise men travel
to get to this place where the star would lead them? How
far did they come? How long was it? How far was it? I
can tell you exactly how long it was. As
long as it took. That’s how long it was. If it had been another few months, it would
still have been as long as it takes to get to the star to find out who
that
King of kings is. How far did they
come? I can tell you exactly how far
they came: As far as they had to get to
that King of kings, whose star they seen, and they come towards it. Fifty miles?
A thousand miles? It doesn’t
matter. As far as I need to go to get to
that King of kings. That’s how far I’m
going. And
these—I’m about to tell my
age, here-- there was a song a long time ago—well, not too long
ago—there was
this song, sung by a group called the Supremes, and they sang this song
"Ain't no mountain high enough" “Nothing
can keep me, keep me from you.” And it was
a pretty big hit. It was a hit.
Other people sang it, it was real popular.
And they sang about this relationship that
would be on earth that, man, nothing’s going to stop you from making
that
happen. Oh, it was real popular, playing
it on the radio and everything. But, it
was really popular, you know, and they sang about an earthly
relationship. Nothing is going to keep me
from having an
earthly relationship. But, the Wise men
put a different spin on that before the Supremes ever came on the scene. They said, “Nothing is going to keep me, keep
me from Him. No matter how far I have to
go; no matter how long it takes.” That,
Saints, is a message all in itself. Whatever
it takes. Point 3: Not
Everyone
Sees His Star Part
number one was, “A Star Is
Foretold,” part number two was, “Whatever it takes, part number three
is, “Not
Everyone Sees His Star.” So, we have
seen His star, but, in fact, not everyone has seen his star. In fact, in Jerusalem, up there in verse
number three, the Bible says, “When Herod the king had heard these
things, he
was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”
All Jerusalem was troubled. Like
Brother Andy tried taking part of the message this morning. All Jerusalem was troubled.
No, no, no, no, nobody in Jerusalem was
seeing the star. People had to come from
afar to see the star. And why? because
it took something special to see his star. His
star was not just a sign on earth. It was
put in Heaven, and, at the same time,
in Heaven and in Earth, it existed. So,
this star that was there was a sign to those who looked for Jesus. And the same thing exists today.
There are people who see His star, and people
who do not see His star, even today, because you’ve got to have
something
special in your life to see the star. Now,
there is something that bears witness here. How
can something on Earth be so special that
Heaven itself bears witness to it? Point #4:
The
Difference of the Wise Men The
difference of the Wise
men. Now, we know that the star is
talked about in the Word of God, and it signified the birth of the Lord
our Savior;
you know, even today, people still look for that star? Actually,
a little while ago, I wanted to go
up to Milwaukee, they’ve got this great big observatory, and you’re
supposed to
be able to look up into the sky, and that would have been great, but
the
difference of the people—the difference of the Wise men—the people who
look for
the star now, and the wise men, is the wise men looked for the star,
and looked
for the Savior. They knew the star was
going to guide them to the Savior. People
now--Just a little while
ago, I went down to Adler planetarium, and they had this really big
thing, and
they were talking about the Star and what it was, and they were saying
it was
going to be a great performance, and they’re going to talk about this
star. It was going to be at the
planetarium, so, Hey! You can probably get some answers here. And I thought, “I didn’t make it up to
Milwaukee for that observatory that they cast in the sky,” but I—we
took the
youth group down there—it was a few years ago—we took the youth group
down
there, and they had this whole thing about what the star might have
been, what
it might have been. They had all these
hypotheses,
and they had a whole list of things, and they said, “Well, we think it
might
have been this, and it could have been that, and, maybe, there was a
time when
several stars came together, and there they were, and maybe it was just
a
different type of a comet that wasn’t going at the same speed,” and
they had
all these different hypotheses, but they mentioned the Bible, and they
never
mentioned the Savior. They mentioned the Bible, but they never
mentioned the
Savior. They were looking for the star
without looking for the Savior. This is
why you can’t find the star. If you look
for the star without looking for the Savior, you’ll never find it! Herod, and all of Jerusalem weren’t looking
for the Savior, because it represented something. It
represented, at this time, that, if they
find the star, under the star is a king, now there is a definiteness to
the
Gospel! There is a thing coming that is
going to set things straight! “Now,
hmmm, the reign of the King begins, and the reign of what’s in my life
is over.” The reign of sin has come to an
end. That’s why they were afraid. Because now comes the ultimate Law-giver. Point #5:
His
Star Still Shines His
star still shines. It says that they saw
His star in the sky,
but, Saints, the truth is His star still shines. Where? Where can you
find His
star? Where can we find the star? Well, you know, the purpose, the purpose of a
star, in the first place, is to be out there and be brilliant, and to
be a
light and to guide, and to shine truth into everything.
So, where can we find this star? 2 Peter 1:19
We have also a more sure
word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a
light that
shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in
your
hearts: “…The
day star arise in your
hearts:” Yes, the star still shines in the hearts and lives of His
people. And, you might say, “Ah, Brother
Parrish,
that’s a cop-out.” Not to God. Not to God.
God put it in the Heavens, and He puts it in your life. Yes, and those who seek after the Savior will
see His star. Nowadays they call it a
testimony. Nowadays they say, “There’s
something about you. Don’t know what it
is; can’t put my finger on it, there’s just something about you.” Until the day star arise in your hearts. But the disciples weren't the only ones who
followed after the star. There were others that followed after the star
albeit conditionally.
Some followed after the star
conditionally. 1.
Some
followed the star as long as He would feed them the fishes and the
loaves. 2.
Some
would followed after the star as long as they didn't have to suffer. 3.
Some
followed after the star as long as he told them what they wanted to
hear. 4.
And
some followed after the star just for entertainment. John 6:60
Many therefore of his disciples, when
they
had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? And
we go down to verse number sixty-six. John 6:66
From that time many
of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Why?
because the Lord had said
some things they didn’t want to hear.
They said, “Ah, I followed after the star up until this
point, and, now,
I’m out of here. Mark 10:17
And when he was gone forth
into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked
him, Good
Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And
He said, in verse twenty-two,
after the young rich ruler, as he is popularly called, came to Jesus,
and Jesus
told him what he needed to do. Mark 10:22
And he was sad at that saying, and
went away
grieved: for he had great possessions. “I
was following you, Lord, up
until you told me that I’m going to have to suffer, a little bit, in
this
life. Ah, you know what?
I’m sorry to hear it, but, you know, I’m
out. It was okay up to that point, but,
now I’m out.” And what about the
thousands that received from the bread and the loaves that He fed and
healed,
and how is it that after the thousands that He ministered to, there was
120 in
the upper room? Because it got to the
place where the star cost too much. Following
the star just cost too much. One
thing that was incredible is
how it did exist in two places at once.
That same thing happens with us, as we go places, our
testimony
remains. The star, the presence of God
in our life, whoever we share with or talk to, it stays with them, and
they
say, they will tell you that, “I just couldn’t shake what you shared
with me. When you did this for me, it has
been with me
ever since,” because the star continues to be there. Yes,
there are those who look for
the Star and who look for the Savoir at the same time.
There was Anna the prophetess, there was Simeon,
the man who was told, “You will not die until you see the salvation of
the
Lord,” and then there were the Magi who, today we call them the Three
Kings,
they were the Magi, who followed in His name, and there are those of
us, who gather
today, following after the star. Point #6:
And
Why A Star? 1 Corinthians 15:41 There
is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another
glory of
the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. “There
is one glory of the sun,
and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one
star
differeth from another star in glory.”
And ‘glory’ here, means honor, or it means praise, it
means brilliance,
it means worthiness, it means worshipfulness. There’s some people that
were
sharing with me about the stars and everything.
They like astronomy. Vince
was telling
me once how he likes to get a telescope and just look up to the stars. I can’t get into all that.
It’s wonderful to hear about other people
liking it, but, as for me, I could get lost. Astronomy
and astrology, I can’t tell the
difference. So, anyway, they were
talking about it and it says that there’s over eighteen different types
of
stars. Over eighteen different types of
stars. The smallest one they call a Red
Dwarf, which is about 50%, or half the size of our sun, or less, half
the size
of our sun or less. And some of them are
even a tenth of the size or our sun, and, yet, even a tenth of the size
of our
sun, it is still a star that is able to give life to a solar system. And, the bigger ones, they’re called Super
giants; they’re up to 1500 times bigger than our sun, 1500 times bigger
than
our sun. They say that the explosions
and the reactions within them are massive,
massive. But, those things are so great
that, that one is one type of brilliance, and the small ones, a
different type
of brilliance, and they differ in their glory.
And, yet, they all have a purpose, they all have a purpose: their purpose is to guide, to give light, and
to bring life. And, whenever these
specific men saw the star, they rejoiced, whenever they saw the star,
they
rejoiced. Now, it’s important to know
that this star differed from every other star.
They could have followed the stars in the Bible, it talks
about the star
of Molech, and the stars of all the other gods—they had stars, and they
would
call them… But this star actually moved
before them and went to where the young child was, the Bible says. And, when they saw it, they realized that
this was the hope, in culmination, and in form.
Now,
it’s important to know that
they rejoiced at the star. There’s people,
as we said, there’s people who can’t find his star, and there’s people
that see
his star and they do not rejoice because it doesn’t mean that their
hopes and
dreams have come to fruition and culmination, that this peace on Earth
has not
come to them. And there’s people that
realize, “This is everything I’ve asked for.
This is everything I want, in a star.” In
the Navy—I was talking to one
of the guys, I think they call them Quartermasters--they were telling
me that
in the old days, they had this apparatus-thing, sextant, and how you
would look
up to the stars, and you would use it to guide you in a certain
destination. So, if you’re out in the
middle of the water,
and you don’t know which direction you’re going, you use the stars to
guide
you. And,
in the old time, in this
country, there was a woman named Harriet Tubman, in the time of slavery. She was trying to help free some of the
slaves. And, according to history, she
was successful in over three hundred, and she would only travel at
night, she
would only travel at night. And, how
would she, who was either in the midst of the forest, or woods, or land
that
she wasn’t familiar with, how would she guide her way to freedom? She said she would use the North Star, because
she knew the star would guide her home.
So, the stars have been used for guidance, down through
history. And, the thing that we have to
realize, here,
is that, sometimes you will follow a star, and you have to do, what is
it those
GPS’s—when you start going off of the road, recalculating,
recalculating. When you take a turn you
ain’t supposed to
take, “Recalculating.” When you follow
after the star, it is a continual process.
It’s not that I found the star three weeks ago, and I’m
still on track,
no, I’ve got to see if I’m still going in the right direction of the
star. Recalculating, recalculating. By that same token, it is a continual process,
and you always have to know that the Bible says that, those that follow
the
star, they examine themselves daily. Because
the Bible says seek and you shall find. When
does the star appear? Yes, it still
appears. When does it appear? Well, I find the star in praise and worship. I find the star in good fellowship, it leads
me right to whatever way is in my life.
I find the star when I open the Book and I read with a
humble
heart. I find the star when I finally get
on my knees and ask God; I find the direction, the guidance, I find
illumination, I find wisdom, I find what God has for me.
I find the star when I humble myself to
whatever His will is for me at that second, at that second. There are times when I don’t find the
star. When I’m frustrated and I don’t
give it to God, I don’t find the star there.
I find that I’m not finding the star, that’s what I find. I don’t find the star when I’m getting real
stingy. That’s not real often, but, when
I get real stingy, and don’t share, I don’t find the star then. There are times when I do not find the
star. There is something called
repentance, and it brings me back in direction, and then I hear that
spiritual GPS
saying, “Recalculating, recalculating.” So,
our last—our next-to-the-last
Scripture, from the Book of Revelation: Revelation 2:26-28 And
he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power
over the nations: And he shall rule them
with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to
shivers:
even as I received of my Father. And I
will give him the morning star. “He
that overcometh, and keepeth
my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations…” and,
in
verse twenty-eight: “And I will give him
the morning star.” Saints, we stay
faithful
and we keep the Lord Jesus in our life, and He gives us the Morning
Star. And our last Scripture, our last
Scripture: Revelation 22:16
I Jesus
have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and
the bright and morning star. “I
Jesus have sent mine angel to
testify unto you these things in the churches. I
am the root and the offspring of David, and
the bright and morning star.” If we stay
faithful, if we do His works, we listen to His Word, He says He will
give us
the Morning Star, and here He says, “I am the Morning Star.” If we do His works, if we listen to His Word,
if we do His will, then He gives us Him.
Amen. Give the Lord a praise.
|
|
|
|
