TRANSCRIPTION | Sunday, December 19, 2021 | A Wise Christmas| Overcoming Barriers 

 

Pastor Eric:

Matthew chapter two, verse number one, it says, "And 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 saying, 'Where is he, who has been born king of the Jews? For, we have seen his star in the east and we have come to worship him.' Verse number nine, 'And when they heard the king, they departed and behold the star, which they had seen in the east went before them until it came and it stood over where the young child was. When, they saw of the star they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down, they worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented to him three gifts, gold, frankincense, and Myrrh."

Pastor Eric:

We're going to continue in the vein of a wise Christmas this morning, as we evaluate some things from the life of the wise men. And today we're going to take a look at how to overcome barriers to our worship. Father, I ask you to help me to preach, help me to teach, help me to share your word, give me an anointing, give me an unction, give me a special grace. God, take this moment and use it for your glory in Jesus name. And this church said, amen. Amen.

Pastor Eric:

You know, growing up, one of my favorite things to do was to visit the living nativity scenes. I just thought that was so cool. You would maybe get in a vehicle and you would drive over to a local church or fairgrounds. And there, there would be people who would be set up and you typically have the scene of Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus and the angels and the shepherd, and of course the wise men.

Pastor Eric:

Also, many of you probably have some kind of childhood memory of maybe being in a Christmas play. Maybe you were even a part of the living nativities. I was in many Christmas plays growing up. There were several roles I never got to play. I never got to be baby Jesus. I never got to be an angel. Several times, I got to be a donkey. I'm not sure if they were trying to tell me something or not. I aspired to be a wise man. I did get to be their camel a time or two.

Pastor Eric:

The wise men. You revisit that nativity, you revisit those Christmas plays, and you see it laid out. And typically there are always three wise men, but when you read through the text, as we just did, it never points out that there were three wise men. It just says in general, that there were wise men. Now, the reason that we in history settled on three is because there were three gifts, but there's the possibility that there were 300 wise men, 10 wise men, a hundred wise men. We have no way of knowing the exact number. And I don't think it does any harm to settle in on just the three.

Pastor Eric:

But one of the things that comes to mind is you begin to contemplate, regardless of how many wise men there were, how did they find out that there was a star that they should be interested in chasing? And what we come to learn is that history has a lot of different opinions. Even scholars of the Bible have a lot of different opinions, but it's clear that they came from the east. And if you were in Israel, east would be Iraq. And that's significant because Iraq was formerly Babylon.

Pastor Eric:

And you may remember reading in scripture and hearing taught about the Babylonian captivity. It's a significant period in the history of Israel in the Old Testament, because it's where the story of Daniel and the lions come from. In fact, you may remember that Daniel was selected by the king of the Babylonians to be raised up. And he was given a position of great influence because he overcome the lions in the den.

Pastor Eric:

He had other exploits, he interpreted dreams and he was raised up, not just in political power was also raised up as a wise man in Babylon. In fact, on more than one occasion, it talks about how that he was used of God to save the lives of magi in Babylon. That's significant because many translations, when it talks about the wise men coming to visit Jesus, it actually refers to them as magi, which means that they were people who were not only wise in the books of the world, but they also studied the skies and they studied the stars.

Pastor Eric:

And so there are many scholars that believe that one of the reasons that the wise men knew to come and look for Jesus was because Daniel may have left a prophecy. In fact, Daniel chapter seven, points to that. And even some things from the Torah, of the first five books the Old Testament point to that. That there was this learned understanding, there's going to be a moment where a Messiah is born in Israel and there will be a star that is accompanied with his birth. And when you see it, regardless of which generation is on the planet at that time, you better go find him.

Pastor Eric:

Isn't it amazing how to think that your life could impact generations to come? And your life could have an effect on generations that you may never even meet, you may never even see, but that your testimony and your relationship with God could impact them? But when you think about these wise men, they hear this word, they discovered this word. And however they came to the knowledge, they knew, we need to go find the baby on the other side of this star.

Pastor Eric:

And so there's some that believe that they may have traveled for up to two years. In fact, there's a strong opinion in the study of two scripture that this star did not actually appear until Jesus was born. Now, if that was the case, then it would make some sense as to why that scripture points out, that when the wise men came to see Jesus, they came to see him at the house.

Pastor Eric:

We get the impression that everyone else that's visiting Jesus is visiting him in a stable. That everybody else that's visiting him is visiting him at a manger type area that he's in a barn type area. But when it gets to the wise men, it says that they actually found him at the house, which may mean that they didn't actually show up at the nativity scene itself because when nativity was going on, they were still looking for Jesus. They were still searching for Jesus. Now, however you play that out, the reality is they finally got the there. And in order to get there and bring their worship, they had to overcome a lot of barriers.

Pastor Eric:

The one barrier that is undeniable is that they had to overcome distance. I mean, they had to travel hundreds if not thousands of miles in order to get to Jesus. And there were no Ubers, there were no planes, no trains, no... They're on camels and donkeys and they're walking, and they're traveling this great distance. And I think any of us that's ever had to deal with distance in any regard to our life know, that it creates the challenge of discouragement.

Pastor Eric:

Can you imagine, as they're navigating this distance, how many times they probably got discouraged? Because they don't have a clear picture of what is on the other side of the star. They just know that God is leading them. They know that God is calling them. They know that they've got a word over their life, and yet they're dealing with distance.

Pastor Eric:

And if you've ever had to travel any distance from what you were believing for, to actually holding that thing in your hands, you know how discouraging that can be. Can I get a witness from somebody on a Sunday morning? It can be incredibly discouraging. And if distance isn't a barrier, discouragement itself is a barrier.

Pastor Eric:

One of the greatest growth spurts that we've ever had in the history of our church came when the church was much smaller. And we just had one location, we were in Russell Springs and we realized that we needed a new sign. And so we put up a new sign. And the next thing we knew, we had a number of people who started attending and we would ask them, "How did you find out about the church?" Like, "I was driving by, and I saw the sign." And we were amazed, we was like, "We should put up a new one every year," if a new sign has this kind of effect. And then as we dug deeper into the conversations, we learned, it had nothing to do with the color scheme. It had nothing to do with the branding package. It had nothing to do with any of the logos. When you would dig into the conversation that we would discover that they were saying, "Well, I noticed at the bottom of the sign, it said, 'Encouraging the discouraged."

Pastor Eric:

And what they were communicating is that they were discouraged and they were desperate for encouragement. And even just seeing a sign became such an encouragement to them that they're like, "I think I'm going to try that place because I'm discouraged." I believe 3 Trees, is still in the business of encouraging the discouraged, in Jesus name. Maybe we should throw it on a sign somewhere, post it on social media.

Pastor Eric:

But distance is a barrier, but distance creates discouragement, and discouragement is an even greater barrier. There's a lot of people that aren't worshiping this morning because they're discouraged. They're discouraged by everything that's going on around them. They're discouraged by everything they're having to face. They're discouraged by everything that they've been through. They're discouraged by the distance between where they are and where they feel like they're going. And they've just decided, if it takes all this, I just don't even know about this whole God thing. And the discouragement itself has probably become some level of depression.

Pastor Eric:

But these guys, when they were traveling, they're not just dealing with distance, they're not just dealing with discouragement, but they're also dealing with the barrier of difficulty. These were not paved roads. There were not modern day excavating machinery that was creating these roads. These roads would've been full of pothole. And during flood seasons, they would've at times, been washed out. There is difficulty, there's a barrier of difficulty.

Pastor Eric:

And you will discover anything in life worth having will require you pressing through the barrier of difficulty. But what I've discovered is that when you're dealing with that barrier of difficulty, you also start to deal with disappointment. Because, you don't battle difficulty without also facing disappointment. Anything, anytime you come up against something difficult, more than once you are going to have to face disappointment, head on. Am I making sense to anybody?

Pastor Eric:

I heard a story of a young boy, and him and his family, they had went to this concert and they were waiting for this world famous pianist to come out and take the stage and begin to play the piano beautifully. And for whatever reason, there had been some kind of a delay and people were kind of gathered around and they were just talking and they were enjoying each other's company.

Pastor Eric:

And then all of a sudden in the background, everyone's attention is drawn to the stage because there's a melody being played on the piano, but it is far from beautiful. It's a little nine year old boy, and he has made his way to the stage. And he is up there given his best rendition of chopsticks. And everybody starts to yell, "Get that boy off the stage. This is the disgrace. Where is his mom? Where are his parents? How could they let this happen?"

Pastor Eric:

And backstage this world famous musician, hears it all happening, and he rushes to the stage and he waves off everyone. And he reaches his arms around the little boy. And as the little boy is trying to master the difficulty of the piano and the whole world has disappointed him by telling him he's not good enough to stay where he currently sits the grand master just reaches around and starts of filling the blanks for him. And what once sounded ugly, suddenly starts sounding beautiful. And the next thing you know, the whole thing is coming together.

Pastor Eric:

Anytime you try something difficult, you're going to get disappointed and there's going to be somebody who's going to point out to you that you aren't what you could have been. You aren't what you should have been. And you're not yet who you aspire to be. But there is a heavenly Father that in the midst of disappointment will lean around behind you and fill in the blanks and make something beautiful. Beautiful out of your feeble attempts. You just got to keep playing.

Pastor Eric:

In fact, the story goes, that while the master was helping him, he just kept saying, "Don't you quit. Don't you quit. Don't you quit." I wonder how many times on that journey as the wise men battled distance, and they battled discouragement and they battled difficulty and they battled disappointment when something broke on the chariots or the horses or the wagons, or there was some kind of wound, or there was some kind... God just came along and "Don't you quit. Don't you quit."

Pastor Eric:

And their story ultimately becomes one of the most beautiful parts of the entire scene surrounding Jesus' birth and development as a child. If distance and difficulty were not enough, then you have to know that they were dealing with danger. In fact, the roads that they would've had to have traveled from the east to Israel at that time were known to be a place that you did not travel without armed guards. You did not travel without security in place. Many times, if there was folks of wealth that were traveling, they would bring soldiers with them. And yet scripture in no way mentions their security system. It doesn't mention that they have soldiers. It just seems to imply that they took the danger head on. We don't know exactly what it looked like, but they would have had to have risk their lives, traveling with these kinds of gifts and this kind of wealth. They're risking everything to go up against the danger.

Pastor Eric:

And I began to think about today, how we are facing danger. Because, some of you feel like there's... Let's go through it one more time. Some of you feel like there's some distance, and as a result, there's been some discouragement associated with your spiritual walk and it has become a barrier to your worship. And there are others of you that you feel like you're going through some difficulty, and as a result of that difficulty, you've been dealing with some disappointment. And if you're honest, it has negatively affected your worship. It has become like a barrier to your worship. You're struggling to press through that.

Pastor Eric:

But then there's, others of you, that when you think about danger, for you, you're not exactly how to sure, that, "Well, okay, are we talking about a pandemic? Are we talking about all the things that could possibly happen on the drive home? Are we talking about the thing the doctor's going to say to me next?" And I guess all those things fit and they all could become barriers to our worship. And I'm sure for some people, they have.

Pastor Eric:

But the thing I would say to you is that I believe the greatest danger in today's society is distraction. There is no greater danger than distraction. The majority of wrecks transpire because of distraction. In fact, I would like to resolve something in Columbia, Kentucky, tonight. I don't know if the individual is out here or not, but last night you chose to blow your horn at me. And it was not my fault. And I really wanted to come to the gas station where you were at and help you understand that it was not my fault. And my wife wouldn't let me, because she said that, that's not what Jesus would do. She said that Jesus would not be distracted. She said a wise man would not be distracted.

Pastor Eric:

What it was is that, I dealt with a distracted driver and the driver was so distracted that they didn't understand they had a stop sign and I didn't. And so when they almost hit me by running their stop sign, because they thought I had run the stop sign that actually didn't exist, they decided to blame it all on me. But I still love you. I still love you.

Pastor Eric:

Distraction, there's no greater danger than distraction. If you thought about how many distractions are in your life right now, and especially even when you get ready to worship, how many distractions that there are. That some of you, you haven't read the Bible in a really long time, because every time you try to, your phone just starts going crazy. And there's a lot of you that you come into a place of worship and you're trying to engage in worship and then you feel that your phone buzz, and then you make the mistake of checking it. And then the next thing you know, you're not just replying to the text, but then you're also checking this email. And then, well, you decided you needed to post something on social media. And the next thing you know, the entire worship set is over. And you not even engaged because you have dealt with... Am I making sense to anybody? There's distraction on every side and I don't think we realize how dangerous it is.

Pastor Eric:

Now, I wrote this down earlier that while danger itself can be a distraction, distraction is our greatest danger. And I think a lot of us settle for leaning into, and chasing, and being hindered by the distractions and never actually engaging in a relationship with God, the way that he designed us to. And so I'm so impressed that that wisdom led these men to be able to get through their barriers and to overcome all these things that we've talked about, discouragement and disappointment, and distraction.

Pastor Eric:

And when they get to Jesus, scripture says that they go in and when they find him, they literally just fall on their face. It literally says they fell before him. And they started worshiping him. And the way that they worshiped him is they came with something that was in their hands. And when they came with what was in their hands, it was the gifts that they're giving. And so you guys know the gifts. The first gift is gold. But the question is, why did they give gold? You have to understand there is nothing in scripture that ever just happens to be happening, especially when it surrounds Jesus Christ. You cannot in any way, shape, form or fashion, pick up your Bible and start digging through its pages and arrive at anything to do with Jesus and it not have prophetic significance.

Pastor Eric:

So when they brought gold, it meant something. The Holy Spirit had been a part of orchestrating that gift. And in that day, if you brought gold to someone, it was a sign that you recognized their kingship especially if you brought them significant amount of gold and you yourself were a person of posture and stature. You were saying, I need you on my side. I need to be in alliance with you. I'm saying to you that I want to come under your dominion so that I will have your protection.

Pastor Eric:

And here are these wise men and they are bowing before this child and they are saying, "You are effectively my king. And as of right now, I put myself under your dominion because I need to know that you and me are in alliance. I need to know that you and me are going to be good as you grow up and you grow in wisdom and in stature." So they give gold to recognize that this baby is a king and that they are under his dominion.

Pastor Eric:

That's why the second gift is frankincense. And when they give the frankincense, it is another very significant gift because frankincense was not so much something that you gave to a king as much as something that you had would have given to a temple in recognition of a God.

Pastor Eric:

In fact, when you go into the book of Exodus, it says to us that one of the things that was constructed in regards to worshiping the temple is that there had to be a specific fragrance that was created so that incense could be offered during worship and a key part of building that fragrance was frankincense. And so when they are coming and they're giving Jesus frankincense, they are recognizing his deity.

Pastor Eric:

They're saying he's not just a king who has dominion. He is a God that must be recognized as deity, that this is not just another baby. This is not just a child that has come through the womb of a girl named Mary. This is the seed of the heavenly Father made manifest in the earth. This kid is God.

Pastor Eric:

Do you understand that when these men, as wise men, bowed and they are giving these kind of gifts, they are risking everything, including their own necks. They are in a little town called Bethlehem. Maybe giving a gift that is typically reserved for a king, to a baby. What do you think the kings on the thrones thought about that? They're in this place giving a gift that's reserved for God's to a baby. You thought it was dangerous for them getting in, wait till you see them try to get out.

Pastor Eric:

In fact, scripture tells us they had to have a dream and a supernatural revelation to be able to survive getting back home. Why? Because, Herod was crazy. Herod was so nuts and so narcissistic and egotistical that if he thought there was any threat to his throne whatsoever, he would put a play in to kill babies two years old and younger. That's exactly what was happening during Jesus childhood. He was trying to find a baby that was two years or younger. Didn't even know which one to look for. But when he heard there might be a threat, he said, "Kill them all." The man was so wicked that when he was on his deathbed, he ordered that every man of significance and success be brought into the courtyards of Jerusalem and be killed.

Pastor Eric:

And his thought was this, "If they won't cry for me, maybe they will weep for these men." Wicked. This is what these guys were up against. And yet it did not hinder their worship. They still brought their gifts. They still recognize him as God. They still fought through every barrier. And I just wonder sometimes what is our excuse?

Pastor Eric:

The third gift. I'll tell you right now, if you had brought the third gift to me, my wife, and our kid, me and you are going to have a problem. Because, I don't want it. Myrrh is significant. Gold, I understand, frankincense I get. But Myrrh, it don't fit. The gold recognizes the dominion of a king. The frankincense recognizes the deity of his God-ness. But the Myrrh, that's embalming fluid. You want somebody showing at up your child's birth and saying, "I have traveled a great distance and bless you with embalming fluid"? Myrrh had one purpose. And while it could be used in various forms, it always showed up around death. Myrrh equals death.

Pastor Eric:

And it's in this moment that God uses these wise men to paint a picture. That Jesus was not just King and God, but he was a savior who would take away the sins of the world with his death. It was God's way of saying, this baby was born to die. You can't appreciate the cross without understanding the cradle. And you'll never properly value Easter until you get the right picture of Christmas that God says to us, the gold, that's where we get to bring our treasure, our wealth and give it back to him because he's the king of everything. We don't have anything unless he allows it. The frankincense, that's where we get to bring our worship and our hands, and our song and our life.

Pastor Eric:

But the death, that's where we get to bring our witness. And we get to let the whole world know that there was a baby who was born, that he might die. And while he came in a cave-like stable, he would exit through a cave-like tomb. And his resurrection over death, hell, and the grave, gives you and me the ability to pass through any barrier that hell would ever put in our place. The ultimate overcoming of all barriers in life is associated with our worship.

Pastor Eric:

And so I'm going to ask you for just a moment, could you just bow your head, close your eyes and just take a moment. And I want you to evaluate with me for a second, any place in your life, where there's been a barrier, something that you've not pressed through, something you've not broken through, something you've not shattered that may be the distance between where you are and where you feel like God's calling you. That journey has just led to incredible discouragement. Some things you don't understand. Some things you're confused by. Some things you're hurt by.

Pastor Eric:

But I think there's, others of you, that you feel like the only way to say it is you're disappointed. You've just been dealt some really difficult hands. And the disappointment itself is just it's beyond discouragement. It's... If some of you are honest, you've probably had some suicidal thoughts because you're so disappointed how difficult some things have been over the last few weeks, months, years of your life.

Pastor Eric:

And yet at the same time, some of us are, we're dealing with real danger, but we're also dealing with real distraction. Maybe I didn't mention your barrier, but the Holy Spirit's pointing it out to you privately in your own life right now. I would just challenge you to join me in a moment of just surrendering to the Lord and following the example of the wise men and just fall on your face before God. Just worship him.

Pastor Eric:

He's bigger than the discouragement. He's bigger than the disappointment. He's bigger than the distraction. And he has died so that you might live. His resurrection gives us hope that his blood is going to do exactly what he said it was going to do.

Pastor Eric:

God, today we surrender our lives to you. We repent of any place where that a barrier has stood in the way of our worship. God, we legitimately repent. Our hearts are convicted. Our hands are lifted. Our mind is renewed. God, I thank you that even now there's some, folks that are lifting their hand, that God for the very first time, are going all in with you. There's been a lot of barriers that stood between them and a relationship with you. Some that were mentioned, and some that were not mentioned this morning, but today God, they repent of the sin in their life.

Pastor Eric:

They're just coming clean and just saying, God, there's some stuff that's between you and me that it's just not right. And God they confess it like you've taught us to do, like God you've enabled me to do so many times in my life, to just confess it. God, some of them even right now, they're just speaking it out some things that they know that have stood between you and the relationship that they're meant to have with you.

Pastor Eric:

And God, we thank you that your blood is going to be poured out afresh and anew. And that there's just going to be a cleansing that happens in our life. There's going to be some refreshing that happens on the record books of heaven. And that God, we get that experience of regeneration, and reconciliation, restoration. God, we receive it today in Jesus name. Jesus name, Jesus name, Jesus name.