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1. Common to many nativity scenes commemorating the birth of Jesus is

the presence of "three wise men"...
a. Implied is that these men, three in number, visited Jesus while
still in the manger
b. Is this what the Bible really teaches?

2. Matthew is the gospel writer who records this visit...

a. Which is found in

b. Which serves as the text for our study today

[This story of c  

c is both interesting and of
practical value. Having read the text, let's first note some...]

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1. Who exactly were these "wise men from the East"?
a. Some think they were a group of priests from Persia
b. Others believe they were astrologers from Babylon
2. How many were there?
a. No actual number is given
b. Three types of gift are mentioned (
), but quality of
gifts does not necessarily imply the quantity of givers!
3. What was the nature of the "star"?
a. Was it an actual "star"?
b. Was it the planet Jupiter, often associated with the birth
of kings
c. Was it a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the Sign of
the Fish?
d. Was it a comet acting erratically?
4. How did these wise men connect the star with the birth of the
king of the Jews?
a. Had they been taught by Jews of the Dispersion to expect
the Messiah?
b. Had they been given special revelation from God not
recorded in the Scriptures?

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!!!

1. That these wise men were "three kings from the Orient"
2. That their names were Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar
3. That they visited Baby Jesus together with the shepherds the
night of His birth
a. But it was some time later (up to two years!) -
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b. They visited Mary and the child in a house, not a stable!
-

4. That they were later baptized by Thomas

[The facts are the Biblical record says little about WHO these men
were. Perhaps because the emphasis is upon WHAT they did: c '(
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+!c (
%) What is important is that Jesus is
worthy of worship, which can only mean that He is truly DEITY (cf.
"Immanuel", or "God with us")!

But there are other lessons that can be gleaned from c  

c...]

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1. We have seen what people have done with the story of Jesus'
birth
a. Making the number of the wise men to be three
b. Having them visit Jesus in the stable
2. There are other examples
a. Making the "forbidden fruit" in the Garden to be an "apple"
b. Depicting baptism in the Bible as pouring or sprinkling
-- We need to be like the Bereans ()-), and make sure we
get the facts straight!

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.   

!!!
1. The Lord may have many "hidden ones" (i.e., hidden to our
knowledge) like the wise men
2. Their history on earth may be as little known as that of
Melchizedek, Job, Jethro
3. We must not assume that God's people consists only of those we
know about, listed in "our" directories
a. There can be many faithful Christians in other countries
b. We may not know about them, but God does! -  +/
-- Though unknown to us, we can still pray for them!

!  "





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!!!
1. One would think the chief priests and scribes would have been
the first to go to Bethlehem, hearing rumors that the Savior
was born
a. But no, it was a few unknown strangers from a distant land
b. As John wrote in his gospel, c
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2. Sadly, the same is often true today
a. Those in the Lord's church often show less love and
adoration than those in the denominations of men
b. Children of Christian parents often show less interest than
many children of non-Christians

!

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 !!!
1. The chief priests and scribes were quick to provide Herod the
answer to his question
a. But as far as we know, they did not act on such knowledge
b. They did not go to Bethlehem, and some never did come to
believe in Him
2. What about us today?
a. We may knowledge in the head (we know the truth), but do we
have grace in our hearts (do we act on it)?
b. We need to always grow in grace and knowledge - 45

!


.
   !!!
 1. Consider what it must have cost them to travel
a. In money
b. In time
c. In dangers
2. What about our diligence? Are we willing to pay the price...
a. To find Christ?
b. To serve Him?
c. To worship Him?
-- They traveled at great costs and risk to worship Jesus; many
Christians won't even take the time to attend a gospel meeting
or a second service on Sunday!

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 ,.
  
!!!
1. They believed in Christ...
a. When they had never seen Him prior to their journey
b. When the scribes and chief priests were unbelieving
c. When all they saw was a little child on a mother's knee!
1) Without miracles to convince them (except the star)
2) Without much teaching to persuade them
-- Yet they c661*0'10*2 771
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2. This is the kind of faith God delights to honor!
a. For God saw fit to record their example of faith for us
b. And every time this passage is read, their example of faith
is honored!
-- As Jesus said later, c *+'%8)'9:*9 '(
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1. May the faith and diligence of the wise men serve to inspire us to
greater service to our Lord!

2. Though the world around us may remain careless and unbelieving,

let's not be ashamed to believe in Jesus and confess Him

3. We have much more reason to believe Him and worship Him...

a. His miracles, His resurrection from the dead
b. His teachings, His death on the cross for our sins

Are we willing to make the effort to find, worship, and serve this
great King? As stated on a popular bumber-sticker:

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  Some of the main points for this lesson were taken from
c=7**2: *9>  *76c by J. C. Ryle.