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Series B – Epiphany – Sunday, January 11, 2015 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the holy Gospel According to Saint
0:30	Matthew Chapter 2 verses 1 through 12.
0:34	after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in
0:37	Judea during the time of King Herod Magi
0:40	from the East came to Jerusalem and
0:42	asked where is the one who has been born
0:44	King of the Jews we saw his star in the
0:47	east and have come to worship Him
0:49	when King Herod heard this he was
0:51	Disturbed in all Jerusalem with him
0:54	when he had called together all the
0:56	peoples Chief priests and the teachers
0:58	of the law he asked them where the
1:00	Christ was to be born
1:02	in Bethlehem and Judea they replied for
1:04	this is what the prophet has written but
1:06	you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are
1:09	by no means least among the rulers of
1:11	Judah for out of you will come a ruler
1:13	who will be the Shepherd Of My People
1:15	Israel
1:17	then Herod called the Magi secretly and
1:20	found out from them the exact time the
1:22	star had appeared he sent them to
1:24	Bethlehem and said go and make a careful
1:26	search for the child and as soon as you
1:28	find him report to me so that I too may
1:31	go and worship him
1:33	after they had heard the king they went
1:35	on their way and the star they had seen
1:38	in the East went ahead of them until it
1:40	stopped over the place where the child
1:42	was
1:43	when they saw the star they were
1:45	Overjoyed on coming to the house they
1:48	saw the child with his mother Mary and
1:50	they bowed down and worshiped him then
1:52	they open their treasures and presented
1:54	him with go Gifts of gold of incense and
1:58	of myrrh and having been warned in a
2:00	dream not to go back to Herod they
2:02	returned to the their country by another
2:05	route
2:07	in the name of Jesus
2:09	all right here again the words of the
2:12	prophet Isaiah from our Old Testament
2:13	reading this morning arise Shine for
2:16	your light has come and the glory of the
2:18	Lord Rises upon you see Darkness covers
2:21	the earth in thick darknesses over the
2:23	peoples but the Lord Rises upon you and
2:27	His Glory Appears over you Nations will
2:30	come to your light and Kings to the
2:33	brightness of your Dawn what a wonderful
2:34	prophecy regarding what it is we just
2:36	read in Our Gospel text the Kings will
2:39	come to the frightness of Our Lord now
2:42	this is Epiphany Sunday now technically
2:44	we’re recognizing Epiphany today
2:48	although it was on the sixth so we’re
2:50	cheating a little bit liturgically but I
2:52	won’t tell anybody if you don’t okay the
2:54	idea behind Epiphany is it’s the
2:57	revealing of Christ and Epiphany Sunday
2:59	has that great text of the the visit of
3:03	the Magi and a good way to think about
3:05	it is is that this is Christmas for the
3:08	Gentiles you see at Christmas time we
3:11	had Shepherds come and worship Christ
3:13	but they were all Jewish Shepherds this
3:16	the Gentiles are showing up and if you
3:19	remember in the history of Israel Israel
3:21	when they well betrayed God and God had
3:23	to exact the curses portion of the
3:26	Mosaic Covenant on them at one point
3:28	sent them into Exile in the east in
3:31	Babylon and now we have Magi coming out
3:35	of the East following the word of God
3:37	that they learned through the people of
3:40	Israel who were exiled in the East and
3:43	following a star to come and worship the
3:45	king of the Jews so we go back to our
3:47	text after Jesus was born in Bethlehem
3:50	and Judea during the time of King Herod
3:52	now if this was being narrated if this
3:55	was a television program and there was
3:57	narration you know the narrator would
3:58	say and after Jesus was born in Judea
4:01	during the time of King Herod you’d hear
4:05	King Herod no bueno this man well the
4:09	way the kids say it now that the phrase
4:11	goes this is one sick puppy all right
4:13	now let me give you an example what I
4:14	mean by this did a little bit of
4:16	research on our on our antagonist this
4:19	morning Herod
4:21	he was an Edomite you know Edom you know
4:24	right Esau you remember Jacob and Esau
4:28	Esau’s
4:29	children his progenity you know they
4:32	became known as the so he was
4:34	an Edomite whose ancestors converted to
4:37	Judaism and Herod was actually ashamed
4:40	of his Origins and he no joke attempted
4:44	to
4:45	well invent a genealogy for himself of
4:48	Jewish descent he was so embarrassed by
4:50	this fact but he’s really not blood Jew
4:53	okay so he was born about 74 BCE in
4:57	ijumia
4:58	and um and he was made the king of Judah
5:03	right
5:04	under of course Augustus Caesar so as
5:06	herod’s Reign progressed he became
5:09	increasingly paranoid and how should we
5:11	put it mentally unstable there were
5:14	indeed plots against him as it generally
5:16	are for people in power in those days
5:18	and those around him well they were
5:20	guilty of manipulating his fears to
5:22	their own advantage and leading him to
5:24	lash out violently including against
5:26	members of his own family Herod had a
5:29	large number of people executed or
5:31	assassinated including members of his
5:34	broader family and even some of his own
5:36	wives and Sons one of herod’s main wives
5:39	was named Mary Omni and she was of Hasma
5:44	hasmonian origin Herod married her at
5:47	least in part to cement ties with the
5:50	nation’s former ruling family so there’s
5:52	is it love or politics maybe both who
5:54	knows even as his own family was
5:56	displacing it so Herod professed he
5:58	loved Mary Omni so much that on more
6:00	than one occasion he gave orders for her
6:02	to be killed if he himself died so that
6:04	he might not be separated from her in
6:06	death now that seems like an odd thing
6:09	to do but Herod was so disliked it is
6:11	also said that he ordered that upon his
6:14	death that certain major popular leaders
6:17	within Jerusalem would also have to be
6:19	assassinated as well because they he
6:21	knew that nobody would mourn him so if
6:25	you know if you have everyone else
6:26	murdered upon his death then there would
6:28	definitely be mourning in in Jerusalem
6:31	thankfully that order was not followed
6:33	out anyway Mary Omni she became
6:36	convinced that he did not really love
6:37	her and I’m wondering why and relations
6:40	between them how shall we say it they
6:42	turned Frosty right Loveless marriage
6:44	it’s a difficult thing eventually
6:46	herod’s sister convinced Herod that Mary
6:48	Omni was planning to poison him he had
6:50	Mary Omni executed herod’s Sons by the
6:53	way they didn’t do any better two of
6:55	Mary omni’s Sons Alexander and
6:57	aristobolus had well difficult relations
7:00	with their father will say that and he
7:02	suspected them of plotting against him
7:04	and eventually he brought them up on
7:06	charges of treason before Augustus
7:08	Caesar who allowed Herod to convene a
7:11	court in order to try them
7:13	so you know he you know Caesar allowed
7:16	this so the court found them guilty and
7:18	they were put to death and they were
7:20	killed by strangulation which is just an
7:24	awful way to die you know you know you
7:26	are my son my own flesh and blood I
7:28	think you’re trying to kill me so we’re
7:30	going to have you executed and you’re
7:32	going to die
7:33	this is just awful I mean this is like
7:36	worse than most soap operas not all of
7:38	them but most right so
7:43	um they were um these were the last of
7:46	herod’s sons whom he had killed herod’s
7:48	firstborn son antipater born of herod’s
7:51	first wife Dora for many years was
7:53	favored by Herod to air to be the heir
7:55	of the throne but he too was eventually
7:57	brought up on charges of plotting
7:58	against his father he was executed five
8:01	days before herod’s own death
8:05	nice guy yeah in view of all of this
8:09	the emperor of Rome Augustus Caesar
8:12	reportedly quipped this is actually
8:14	written down in a in a scroll that we
8:17	have it says it Herod said not Heritage
8:19	Augusta said it is better to be herod’s
8:22	Pig than to be his son
8:25	well for the very reason that herod’s a
8:26	Jew and he doesn’t eat bacon so yes it
8:28	clearly would be better to be herod’s
8:30	Pig so um so we kind of pick up this
8:34	story and this is the guy that the Magi
8:38	go and see
8:42	this isn’t gonna this isn’t gonna end
8:43	well that’s who we’re dealing with so
8:46	and let me kind of put this here as we
8:49	read the rest of the story
8:51	keep in mind kind of keep this dichotomy
8:53	with Proverbs 1 7 in mind the fear of
8:56	the Lord the fear of Yahweh is the
8:57	beginning of knowledge but fools despise
9:00	wisdom and instruction fools despise
9:03	wisdom and instruction who’s wise and
9:06	whose shall we say unwise in all of this
9:08	circumstance so the story continues and
9:12	The Story Goes that um
9:15	the Magi from the East came to Jerusalem
9:18	and they asked where is the one who has
9:20	been born King of the Jews we saw his
9:22	star in the east and have come to
9:24	worship Him
9:26	when King Herod heard this he was
9:27	Disturbed in all Jerusalem with him
9:31	yeah Disturbed truly he was Disturbed
9:34	why is he Disturbed King of the Jews
9:36	King of the Jews as the king of the Jews
9:38	has been born in Jerusalem of course the
9:39	Magi show up thinking well King of the
9:41	Jews has been born well herod’s the king
9:43	maybe it’s the son
9:45	right that’s a possibility
9:47	so they basically show up quite
9:50	innocently looking for the king of the
9:51	Jews we’ve seen a star he’s been born
9:53	where is he he’s supposed to be here in
9:55	Jerusalem the palace is here
9:58	well we’ve noted during Christmas Jesus
10:00	wasn’t born in a palace he was born in a
10:03	barn
10:03	so Disturbed when he says he’s Disturbed
10:07	he’s disturbed because there’s a usurper
10:11	there’s a true king I’m not even truly
10:13	Jewish remember I had to have my you
10:16	know genealogy fudged a little bit his
10:19	birth certificate was saying it was from
10:21	Kenya but anyway
10:23	did I say that out loud
10:28	that’s kind of the issue here right
10:30	so he’s Disturbed all right Disturbed to
10:33	the point where murderous thoughts begin
10:35	to come up in his mind he wants to
10:37	murder this king of the Jews that’s
10:39	what’s really going on and of course he
10:41	would murder his own Sons
10:43	so
10:44	here’s what it says when he had called
10:47	together all the peoples the chief
10:48	priests and the teachers of the law he
10:50	asked them where the Christ was to be
10:52	born in Bethlehem and Judea they replied
10:54	for this is what the prophet has written
10:57	they knew where the Messiah is going to
10:59	be born but you Bethlehem in the land of
11:01	Judah are by no means least among the
11:03	rulers of Judah for out of you will come
11:04	a ruler who will be the Shepherd Of My
11:06	People Israel
11:08	then Herod called the Magi secretly
11:12	come let’s talk let’s have a little chat
11:14	so they have a little meeting you know
11:17	maybe serve coffee so tell me when did
11:19	when did you see the star yeah just tell
11:21	me a little bit more about all this star
11:22	stuff and so
11:25	um he’s this he found out from them the
11:27	exact time the star had appeared he sent
11:29	them to Bethlehem and say you go and
11:32	make a careful search for that child and
11:34	as soon as you find him report it to me
11:36	so that I too can go and worship him
11:40	none of it’s true he does not want to
11:43	know he wants to know where the child is
11:45	for sure so they can stick us knife in
11:48	its neck right that’s what he really
11:50	wants to do
11:51	so after they heard the king they went
11:53	on their way and the star that they had
11:55	seen in the East went ahead of them
11:56	until it stopped over the place where
11:58	the child was
12:01	so here’s they’re following the star and
12:03	that’s our song our opening song You
12:05	Know star of wonder star of night right
12:08	so they come when they saw the star they
12:10	were Overjoyed on coming to the house
12:12	notice the order here they saw the child
12:15	with his mother Mary it doesn’t say they
12:17	saw Mary and the child it says they saw
12:19	the child
12:21	and his mother Mary now keep in mind
12:25	despite the fact that we have no
12:27	photographs of Jesus from this time that
12:30	the medieval depictions of Jesus with a
12:32	Halo are probably not historically
12:35	accurate so you know it wasn’t like they
12:37	were wandering through Bethlehem and
12:39	there’s that kid with the Halo that must
12:41	be him so no that’s not what’s going on
12:44	Jesus’s Divinity is hidden within his
12:46	Humanity if you would and so how did
12:49	they know the star told them and God’s
12:51	word told them this is the place they
12:52	were and coming to the house they saw
12:54	the child with his mother and they bowed
12:57	down and they
12:59	worshiped him
13:01	worship as if he’s a god
13:04	and he is
13:05	so then they opened their treasures and
13:07	presented him with gifts of gold and of
13:10	incense and myrrh now remember from our
13:14	song the song that we opened up with
13:15	actually explained what the gifts were
13:17	about did you catch it
13:19	the gold is for the king
13:22	how about that in that uh
13:26	incense that uh frankincense
13:29	what’s that all about well that’s
13:31	regarding his divinity
13:33	myrrh
13:35	for his suffering and death burial
13:37	spices
13:39	somewhat prophetic in their gifts now
13:41	because there are three gifts this is
13:44	the reason why people think there are
13:46	three Magi and in church tradition has
13:50	come up now we have names for these guys
13:51	and I don’t know their names I I don’t
13:53	really buy into the tradition so I don’t
13:55	particularly care for their names but
13:57	I’m of the opinion that if there were
13:59	only three of them Herod probably would
14:01	have had them knocked off so there had
14:04	to be a few more than three yeah herod’s
14:07	is he’s just an unstable guy you know
14:09	what I’m saying
14:11	so it says they knelt before the lowly
14:13	Christ and they worshiped him even
14:16	though his glory and his divinity were
14:18	utterly concealed by his
14:19	two-year-oldness Jesus’s
14:20	two-year-oldness so we bow down we bow
14:22	down and we worship the same Jesus
14:24	concealed and revealed for us in the
14:26	word preached in the bread and the cup
14:28	that we have here every month trusting
14:31	as the wise men did that God is true to
14:33	his word so just as Jesus’s Divinity is
14:35	not you know evident but it’s by looking
14:38	at him it’s hidden in his Humanity so
14:41	Christ is here
14:42	kind of hidden in a way he’s hidden in
14:45	the preached word he’s hidden in the
14:47	Lord’s supper he’s hidden hidden in the
14:49	baptismal font he’s hidden in the
14:51	Absolution but we like them are wise
14:54	because we trust that God is true to his
14:57	word
14:58	God was true to his word regarding the
15:00	Christ God is true to his word guarding
15:02	the promises that he’s given to us and
15:04	so
15:06	now we kind of come to this thorny part
15:08	of my sermon we’ve got to pause here for
15:11	a second and we need to do a little
15:12	reflection
15:14	because when we talk about Herod clearly
15:16	bad guy and we look at the Magi who are
15:19	very wise because the fear of the Lord
15:21	is the beginning of wisdom they’re wise
15:23	they’re worshiping Christ when you
15:25	examine your own life as a Christian
15:28	you’re going to find that you are at
15:31	times similarly behaving like Herod
15:35	and there are times when you are
15:36	similarly behaving like the Magi
15:39	worshiping Christ
15:42	now it gets a little bit thorny when you
15:44	start getting down to the Herod portion
15:46	of it Herod has his little kingdom he’s
15:51	going to protect it with all of his
15:52	might murderously so and he as you’re
15:55	going to re I’m going to read it here in
15:56	a minute will even go so far as to
15:58	concoct a plot to assassinate Jesus now
16:02	I don’t think we all go that far but the
16:04	reality is is that you don’t have to go
16:06	that far in order to do the same thing
16:09	when God’s word calls you to repent of
16:11	your sins and you say to yourself oh
16:14	yeah I can quit anytime it’s not that
16:16	big of a deal
16:18	are you not
16:21	being like Herod
16:24	when you try to control circumstances
16:27	manipulate them sinfully so are you not
16:30	being like Herod don’t tell me what to
16:33	do keep your hands off of me God or how
16:35	about you know what’s this idea about
16:37	Jesus kind of impacting all of my life
16:41	isn’t it just isn’t enough that Jesus is
16:44	just around on Sundays why do I need him
16:46	on Monday or Tuesday
16:48	just a little bit of Jesus
16:52	Who’s acting as the Lord there
16:55	you were Christ or when we pick and
16:59	choose Those portions of God’s word that
17:01	we want to believe and not believe
17:03	I like this part over here but I don’t
17:05	like that part over there
17:07	I like the part that makes me feel good
17:09	about myself that’s happy and joyous and
17:11	upbeat and this other stuff seems so
17:12	depressing
17:14	you know that part that keeps telling me
17:16	that I’m a sinner
17:19	like that part so I you know what I’m
17:21	going to do I’m just going to x that out
17:23	I’m gonna do the the Thomas Jefferson
17:25	thing pull out an exacto knife and Those
17:27	portions of scripture that I disagree
17:29	with just
17:30	toss them out and now I’ve got my own
17:33	Bible and I believe all of the Bible
17:34	that I have except for those parts of it
17:36	that are emitted are you not behaving
17:38	like Herod
17:40	now the reality is we’re all guilty of
17:42	doing this
17:44	in some ways protecting our own little
17:46	kingdoms and believe me they are small
17:49	all of our kingdoms are microscopic
17:52	whether it’s your little family kingdom
17:54	or your kingdom at work or your kingdom
17:56	in the community but if you’re
17:58	protecting that
18:00	murderously so you are just like Herod
18:05	but there’s another thing that goes on
18:07	inside of us as Christians
18:09	we truly do worship Christ
18:12	we truly do Bow Down
18:15	and thank God for for the gift of a
18:18	savior it seems like we’re at odds with
18:20	ourselves don’t we we have a little bit
18:22	of Magi in US
18:23	and we have a little bit of Herod in us
18:25	and they seem to be doing this all the
18:27	time
18:28	that’s the Christian Life
18:30	this is what Paul talks about in Romans
18:32	7 when he says the things I want to do I
18:33	don’t do
18:35	but the things I’d the things I don’t
18:37	want to do I do the things I want to do
18:39	I don’t do who will save me from this
18:41	body of death you see because each and
18:43	every one of us as Christians
18:45	we still have our sinful nature and our
18:47	sinful nature behaves and acts exactly
18:49	like herod’s sinful nature does
18:53	because we all have that in common
18:56	but because you’re baptized because
18:58	Christ has regenerated you because
18:59	you’ve been brought to penitent faith in
19:01	Jesus the spirit has also worked in you
19:03	and the Holy Spirit is in you as a
19:06	deposit guaranteeing your inheritance so
19:08	you see within yourself two conflicting
19:11	desires
19:12	the one desire is wise
19:15	and the other desire is utterly foolish
19:18	as foolish as King Herod
19:21	and that’s the Christian Life
19:24	this is why Luther correctly understood
19:28	that the entire Christian Life is one of
19:30	penitence
19:32	and if you keep thinking about this The
19:34	Lord’s Prayer give us this day our daily
19:37	bread we pray in the Lord’s Prayer right
19:39	that’s a hint as to how often you should
19:41	pray it
19:43	it’s a hint if you’re supposed to be
19:45	praying The Lord’s Prayer on a daily
19:47	basis because I’m praying for daily
19:49	bread
19:50	there’s also that phrase in there and
19:52	forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
19:54	those who trespass against us
19:57	every day
19:58	every day you sin and you trust in
20:02	Christ for the Forgiveness of your sins
20:03	and there is a day coming a day coming
20:06	when we will all rise from the grave if
20:09	Christ doesn’t come first I’m kind of
20:10	hoping to skip that whole death thing
20:12	you know that’s kind of a nice thing
20:13	that’s wonderful caveat if Jesus shows
20:15	up today none of us dies
20:18	you know you know wouldn’t it be great
20:21	but if Jesus continues to tarry in his
20:24	own wisdom for whatever reasons he’s
20:25	chosen to do so and we all end up out
20:28	there rather than in here on a Sunday
20:30	morning
20:31	well there’s a day coming when we’re
20:33	going to be called forth from the grave
20:35	we will not have sinful nature anymore
20:38	we’ll not have that old Adam who behaves
20:41	like Herod who does the bidding of the
20:43	devil
20:44	instead we will all be transformed new
20:48	bodies no sin no death no disease no
20:51	getting old I’m thinking I’m going to be
20:53	about 16 pretty spelled you know like
20:55	for eternity it’s going to be cool
20:57	really cool right yeah
21:01	but coming back to our text
21:03	says this about the Magi having been
21:05	warned in a dream not to go back to
21:07	Herod
21:08	they returned to their country by
21:11	another route that’s where pericope ends
21:13	but I want to read a little bit more
21:15	so God is the one who summoned the Magi
21:19	from the East and brought them to
21:20	worship they are Gentiles they’re not
21:22	Jews they’re worship Jesus and they came
21:26	in not knowing that Jesus wasn’t born in
21:28	Jerusalem and they actually kind of set
21:30	Herod off which God knew that was going
21:34	to happen God’s sending a message to
21:36	Herod by the way you’re not the true
21:37	king of the Jews the real ones here so
21:40	God warns these gentlemen in a dream do
21:43	not go back to Herod
21:45	they had no idea Herod had it out for
21:47	Jesus so God warns them and then they
21:50	return by their country taking another
21:51	route and it says this when they had
21:53	gone up when they had gone an angel of
21:56	the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream
21:58	get up he said take the child and his
22:02	mother and escape to Egypt stay there
22:04	until I tell you for Herod is going to
22:07	search for the child to kill him
22:13	so he got up
22:15	took the child and his mother during the
22:17	night
22:18	that’s how urgent this was
22:20	so after the Magi come and they worship
22:23	middle of the night he gets a dream
22:27	and literally it’s this Mary we gotta go
22:30	and we gotta go now
22:31	we got to get out of here now
22:34	now we’ve got to go
22:36	they gather their stuff up this is the
22:39	days before you have flashlights and
22:41	cars and things like that and they leave
22:43	Bethlehem in the middle of the night
22:45	that’s how how quickly they got out of
22:48	town Joseph didn’t question
22:51	this Revelation from God didn’t question
22:53	it one bit
22:55	so he got up took the child of his
22:56	mother during the night left for Egypt
22:59	where he stayed until the death of Herod
23:01	and so was fulfilled what the Lord had
23:03	said to the prophet
23:04	out of Egypt I called my son
23:07	it’s the second time in the history of
23:10	the Bible that of Joseph has led Israel
23:14	into Egypt
23:17	that’s because what happened in the Old
23:19	Testament was pointing to this and
23:21	remember in the Old Testament it was
23:23	Pharaoh who was trying to have all of
23:26	the the young boys of Israel killed
23:30	right remember that well listen to that
23:32	listen to this with that in mind when
23:34	Herod realized that he had been
23:36	outwitted by the Magi actually he was
23:39	outwitted by God it says this he was
23:42	Furious
23:44	enraged well there’s a shock
23:47	and he gave orders to kill all the boys
23:49	in Bethlehem
23:54	I can’t imagine this
24:01	putting an order out to murder
24:04	infants two years old and under
24:09	I can’t I cannot imagine this
24:14	foreign
24:16	would be better to be a pig than to even
24:19	be one of herod’s subjects
24:22	he was Furious he gave orders to kill
24:24	all the boys in Bethlehem in its
24:25	vicinity who were two years old and
24:27	under in accordance with the time he had
24:29	learned from the Magi
24:31	then what was said to the Prophet
24:33	Jeremiah Was fulfilled a voice his heard
24:35	in Rama weeping in great Mourning
24:38	Rachel weeping for her children and
24:40	refusing to be comforted because they
24:41	are no more
24:45	if a king did this today
24:48	or a governor or a prince or a president
24:51	this would be splashed all over the
24:53	headlines
24:55	this guy would be likened to Hitler
25:01	could you imagine
25:05	but that’s how our sinful nature
25:08	reacts to Christ
25:10	the true king
25:15	so like I said
25:16	keeping in mind that Pharaoh tried to
25:19	have the first had all the young boys of
25:22	Egypt murdered that points us to this
25:25	which is the Fulfillment this is the
25:27	reality the Old Testament was the type
25:28	and Shadow and Joseph leads again Israel
25:32	true Israel Israel reduced to one person
25:36	a little boy
25:37	at this point probably two years old
25:41	two years old takes Israel back into
25:45	Egypt to fulfill the prophecy out of
25:47	Egypt I called my son
25:48	and you ask yourself what’s going on
25:51	here
25:51	I can tell you what’s going on here
25:54	God
25:56	has stepped into human history
26:02	the true king
26:04	has stepped onto the battlefield
26:07	and he’s doing he’s done it for you he’s
26:09	done it for me
26:12	Satan at this point took the opportunity
26:14	to knock him off to kill him
26:17	and even then he couldn’t do it
26:20	but there’s a bigger story going on and
26:23	it’s an amazing story
26:25	God in human flesh as a little boy
26:29	is whisked away in the middle of the
26:30	night into Egypt
26:33	all of this for you all of this for me
26:37	perfectly living out God’s law and even
26:40	at this age he’s already on his way to
26:42	the cross
26:44	to bleed and to die for your sins and
26:47	mine
26:48	let us rejoice with these Gentile Magi
26:52	and do what they’ve done
26:54	worship this King
26:57	this true king of the Jews
27:00	and let us bring our gifts to him not
27:02	because we’re justified by our gifts but
27:05	because we have been Justified
27:09	every morning here
27:11	on Sunday we pass a small plate
27:15	but even when you put a few coins in
27:18	that plate you are doing the same thing
27:20	that the Magi have done
27:23	giving of what God has given you to
27:25	support the preaching of the Gospel
27:28	Romans says that in light of God’s mercy
27:33	because of what Christ has done for you
27:35	offer yourselves as a Living Sacrifice
27:39	holy and acceptable made holy and
27:41	acceptable by what Christ has done
27:44	and a third gift
27:46	is in all you do do it unto the Lord in
27:49	everything you do in your work
27:51	doesn’t matter if you’re selling cars or
27:53	you’re a farmer or a housewife
27:56	do everything
27:58	because you are in Christ as if you are
28:00	doing it for the king himself
28:03	you don’t have gold or frankincense and
28:06	myrrh but you have those gifts
28:08	and those gifts are holy because Christ
28:11	has made you holy
28:13	in the name of Jesus
28:15	amen

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