Sermon Prepared by James McCullen
Email Preach Him with Dr. Jim
Born A King
Mt 2:1-2 & 9-11 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.
. . . 9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. NKJV

Introduction
How could anyone be born a king? We know this is possible only as a boy child is born to a king. So to call Jesus at his birth one who is born king; has to mean He is God's Son. What evidence is there in scripture to add to this statement by the wise men's statement

I will suggest three (3) ideas.

1. Born A King and Proclaimed . . By the Wise Men.

2. Born A King and Proven . . By His Star. Mat. 2:2 b

3. Born A King and Praised . . By Worship. Mat. 2:2 c & 11

1. Born A King and Proclaimed . . By the Wise Men. Mat. 2:2 a

"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?"

A.    Note this . . Statement.
        "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?"

        1.    It Is Made To An Appointed King. v 3
            "When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." NKJV

2. Herod was not A King by Birth.
a. He was Threatened By the Birth of Jesus.

B. Note this . . Substantiation.

1. Jesus Is A King. Substantiated In these verses.

Jn 1:49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King
of Israel!" NKJV

Jn 12:13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!"

            Jn 18:37 Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly
            that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I
            should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." NKJV

Lk 23:38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. NKJV

Illustration BIRTH
A little boy asked his mother where he came from, and also where she had come from as a baby. His mother gave him a tall tale about a beautiful white-feathered bird. The boy asked his grandmother the same question and received a variation on the bird story.

Outside to his playmate he said, "You know, there hasn't been a normal birth in our family for three generations."

Application

It is not Normal for a child to be born a King. But Jesus is King and Lord of Lords

Do You Relate to Jesus As King?

2. Born A King and Proven . . By His Star. Mat. 2:2 b

"For we have seen His star in the East. . . "

A. Proven a King through Science.

        1.    Have you ever thought of the times God uses Nature.
            a. God used a Whale - Jonah
            b. God used a Roster - Simon Peter's Denial
            c. God used a Star - Jesus Birth

        2.    Have you really thought about the use of a star?
            a. The Sun is only one of the more than 200 billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way.
                http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769137.html
            b. God has a sense of humor as He uses a star.
            c. One Star Out of 2 Billion

Illustration
Back during World War II a little boy and his daddy were driving home on Christmas Eve. They drove past rows of houses with Christmas trees and decorations in the windows. In many of the windows the little boy noticed a star. He asked his father, "Daddy, why do some of the people have a star in the window?"

His daddy said that the star meant that the family had a son in the war. As they passed the last house, suddenly the little boy caught sight of the evening star in the sky. "Look, Daddy, God must have a son in the war, too! He's got a star in his -window." Indeed, God has a son who went to war, but Jesus came into our world to go to war with sin. --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 84.

Application

God caused a star to punctuate the Birth of Jesus. Do you realize Jesus called Him self a star?

Rev 22:16 I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." NKJV

Do You Relate to Jesus As King?

3. Born A King and Praised . . By Worship. Mat. 2:2 c & 11

". . . and have come to worship Him." NKJV

v 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

A. Note There . . Desire to Worship the King. v 2 c
". . . and have come to worship Him." NKJV

        1.    They took this trip in order to Worship.
            a.    Can you imagine the sacrifice of this trip?
            b.    We do not know how many people made this trip. It is not impossible that families would
                have made the trip. Can you imagine that? How many times do you think the children asked
                "are we there yet?"

Illustration
A child took a long walk to get a sea shell for his teacher. The teacher knew where these shells came from and said "you should not have gone that far to get me this gift."

The child answered the walk was part of my gift.

B.    Note There . . Design to Worship the King. v 11
        "And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell
        down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:
        gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Introduction: On the Internet a firm has a gift of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.

Note this ad:    We have put together fine Frankincense and Myrrh essential oils and a small vial of real
                        gold nuggets panned from gold bearing streams. The set comes packed in a 3" x 3" x 3"
                        shiny gold gift box. Item #GFM $89.95
                        http://www.nicetoys.com/goldfrankincenseandmyrrh.html

1. The . . Posture In their Design for Worship
" Fell Down and worshiped Him."

a. This is serious business.
b. Worship for us needs a similar design.

2. Their . . Presents. Gold. Frankincense, Myrrh

Gold The Gift for their KING
    Gold is scarce, which adds to its value.
    Gold is, as one writer put it, "warmly beautiful".
    Gold is enduring, and can withstand all natural acids and even fire. We draw attention to this feature
    when we perform the wedding ceremony.

Wouldn't it be far better for us to want to be like gold, rather than wanting to have gold?
Why do they need Gold? Trip to Egypt.

Frankincense Gift For Their God, Symbol of Prayer
    Frankincense is a very costly and fragrant gum
    Frankincense is highly fragrant when burned, and was, therefore, used in worship, where it was
    burned as a pleasant offering to God.
    It was also used as medicine and as perfume. The primary lesson from frankincense is that our
    worship is to be pleasing to God.

Myrrh Gift for their Priest, He makes sacrifice for sin.-Burial
    Myrrh is an aromatic gum produced from a torn- bush that grew in Arabia and Ethiopia, and was
    obtained from a tree in the same manner as frankincense.
    Myrrh represents bitterness, at least to the taste. In fact, the name itself was given to it on account of
    its great bitterness.
    Myrrh was used chiefly in embalming the dead.

Illustration Source: John MacArthur, The Ultimate Priority, p. 1.
In his book The Ultimate Priority John MacArthur reflects on a story in the Chicago Tribune about an amazing tortilla. A New Mexico woman was making tortillas when she noticed that the skillet marks on one of the tortillas looked like Jesus. She showed it to her husband and neighbors, and they all agreed that Jesus' face was burnt into the tortilla.

She took the tortilla to have it blessed by her priest. She testified that the tortilla had changed her life, and her husband agreed that she had been a happier, more peaceful and submissive wife since the tortilla had arrived.

After the reluctant priest blessed the tortilla, she took it home, put it in a glass case with piles of cotton to make it look like it was floating on clouds, built an altar for it and opened the shrine to visitors. Within a few months more than eight thousand people made pilgrimages to worship at the shrine of the Jesus of the Tortilla.

We shouldn't be surprised. Few people know what worship is, and even in Christian churches worship is a battleground marked with confusion, misconception and prejudice. Most of us come to a church service with personal preferences and expectations. Few of us have any clear idea of what the LORD expects from our gatherings.

Application

How does our worship compare to that of these wise men? Do we ever make a sacrifice?
Do we put our selves out in order to worship?

Conclusion

When a gentleman was inspecting a house in Newcastle, with a view to renting it as a residence, the landlord took him to the upper window, expatiated on the extensive prospect, and added, "You can see Durham Cathedral from this window on a Sunday."

"Why on a Sunday and not any other day?" inquired our friend, with some degree of surprise.

The reply was conclusive enough. "Because on that day there is no smoke from those tall chimneys." Blessed is the Sabbath to us when the earth-smoke of care and turmoil no longer clouds our view. Then our souls often behold the goodly land, and the city of the New Jerusalem.

Born A King and Proclaimed . . By the Wise Men.

Born A King and Proven . . By His Star.

Born A King and Praised . . By Worship.