ORLANDO CHINESE CHURCH MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY, 2001
Wisemen From the East
Matthew 2:1-2
One of the subjects in the Gospel of Matthew concerns wisdom. The Lord Jesus is greater than Solomon, who had the greatest wisdom in the Old Testament time (Mat. 12:42). Everyone who hears Jesus' words and practices them is wise (Mat. 7:24). They who respond to His words are called the sons of wisdom. They are like the wise virgins who, when the bridegroom comes, will go in to the wedding banquet because they are alert and prepared (Mat. 25:4). Then the second chapter of Matthew opens with the journey of the wisemen from the east. They were regarded as wise because:
May Christ the Morning Star rise in our hearts to give us wisdom from above, so that this new year will be a bright and shining one indeed.
- They sought after the Lord: "saw His star in the east"(2:2b)
In their earnest search for the Creator and knowledge of eternal importance, they studied carefully the Old Testament. They knew about the prophecy of Numbers 24:17, "A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel." When they saw His star in the east, they knew the prophecy had been fulfilled, so traveled a great distance to Jerusalem. When King Herod heard their inquiries of the One who had been born king of the Jews, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. After being informed by the scribes that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, the star they had seen in the east led them to the place where the child Jesus was. Now, if we come to church time after time, Christmas after Christmas, but yet do not have a heart that seeks after the Lord, we do not yet possess wisdom. May we all rise today to seek after Him who is the King.
- They worshipped the Lord: "have come to worship Him"(2:2c)
They saw His star in the east and had come to worship Him. They did not worship the Persian King in the east, rather the king of the Jews because He was born to the throne of King David (Luke 1:31-33). His kingdom would never end, and His reign forever. Persia, Babylon, Greece, and Egypt would all pass away, only the One who was on the throne would be everlasting. What do we worship? Money, position, fame, power…? All these will pass away. Only He who sits on the throne will reign forever. May we all come with a pure and simple purpose to worship Him.
- They brought offerings to the Lord: "presented Him with gifts of gold, incense and of myrrh"(2:11)
Rom 12:1 tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. This is a reasonable service, which can also be called as an act of worship. When we come to worship, do we worship in spirit and in truth? For some people, only their bodies are in the church. Their minds are busy planning for football games in the afternoon or parties in the evening, or going to sales in the stores. Some others may be here only in their hearts. They would say: " I can't come but my heart will be with you all." There are always two to three empty pews in the front during Sunday worship. Perhaps they are reserved for those who arrive "in their hearts" only. May we withhold nothing from the Lord and be willing to give Him our all, just like the wisemen from the east:
- Gold: It is what a king deserves. The wisemen from the east came before a child, yet they acknowledged him as king. In our worship, we need to acknowledge Jesus as the King. We belong to Him and He must rule in our hearts. Let us come to offer Him the gold of our hearts for his glory.
- Incense: The beauty of one who is perfect. Because of His love for us, Jesus left His heavenly throne to come to earth. He lived among sinners and was tempted in every way, yet He was without sins but perfect in every way. The wisemen from the east understood this and therefore presented the gift of incense to Jesus. In the holy temple the incense was burnt on the alter of incense in front of the curtain as an offering to God. Its fragrance rose, unobstructed by the curtain, reaching to God for His satisfaction. In the New Testament, this refers to the fragrance of Christ for which there is no substitute because apart from Christ there is no salvation. Christ is the only one that God referred as "my beloved son". Because Christ sacrificed Himself and shed His blood for us, we can, through the torn curtain, come boldly before God. Christ is the incense, through whom we can come before God to worship. Our worship is therefore a manifestation of the beauty of Christ within us.
- Myrrh: It is used on a corpse for burial. It represents death and suffering. The wisemen from the east knew that Christ came to die on the cross. They brought the gift of myrrh in anticipation of His death and burial. Through baptism we are united with Christ in His death and we die to our wickedness, our sin, and our deeds of darkness. When we come out of the baptismal water, we are united with Christ in the glory of His resurrection. Since we are united with Christ in His death, let us die to our pride, our self, our offenses to others, and our love of the world. Therefore, let us be dead to sin and alive in Christ. When Christ returns He will gather us to be His own and death no longer has dominion over us.
Isa 60:6 prophesizes that when Christ comes all nations will approach Him bearing gold and incense. There is no mention of myrrh because Christ was raised from the dead and He cannot die again. To all who are just baptized please remember that your old self was buried in the baptismal water and that you now live a new life in Christ. Christ who is within you will guide you all the days of your life.
- They followed the Lord closely: "having been warned in a dream not to go back…they returned to their country by another route"(2:12)
They saw the star in the east and followed it. The star led them to Jesus and showed them the way to return. Do you have guidance in your life? What is your path or purpose in life? May the star rise in our heart and guide us as it guided the Magi in those days. The wisemen arrived at Jerusalem, the city of peace, but the star further led them to Bethlehem which means the house of abundance. When we believe and receive Christ as our Lord we have peace, but we must not stop there. We need to enter into God's abundance. Our Christian walk should be one that is filled with joy (2:10). As the star guided the wisemen to the house of abundance, we too need guidance when we travel the path of spiritual growth.
Jesus said: "I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."(Rev 22:16) May the morning star rise in our hearts (2 Peter 1:19) to guide our path and protect us from the schemes of the devil. Herod sent the Magi to search for the child saying: "I too may go and worship Him." Even though the Magi were not aware of Herod's evil intention, the Lord warned them in a dream to return to their country by another route. The star guided them along a new path so that they would not fall into the traps of the evil one. The devil wants to see us fall behind spiritually. He hates it when God's people live in harmony. He has many schemes to cause us to stumble or fall, but Christ is the morning star who will guide us unto a new path to avoid Satan's traps. Young believers, where is your guidance? Have you found a new path, a new direction, and a new power? Or are you still following the old way, guided by your old nature?
The Morning Star In My Heart
When I first heard about "Jesus" or anything related to Him, I believed them to be "true". It was not that I fully understood the doctrine, but when I learned from the Bible of the birth and death of Jesus Christ for the redemption of our sins, I simply believed it. Later on after I read the book "Song of A Prodigal", I had a better understanding of God's plan. However the most touching part was that when I prayed, God made everything clear to me.
I used to think that Christianity teaches good work, so it is a good religion. Now I know that it is not enough just to be a "good person". It was not a set of doctrines to teach goodness. If that were the case, how is it different from the teachings of Confucius and other Chinese philosophers? It is the true love in the heart towards God that make Christians different from others.
Although I knew that God is good, I felt that He was still far away. I was like a by-stander watching all the things happened. Now I know that God wanted me to accept Him. He doesn't want to let me go hoping that one day I will become His sheep. It was not until I got my cat that I really experienced the blessing of being loved and cared. If I am willing to accept God's love, I am sure that it will be much greater than the way I love my cat.
The Bible talks about "justified freely". Why did I struggle so long, but still refuse to accept it. It is impossible for me to build a ladder and climb to heaven by myself. I do feel good sometimes to restrain from taking advantage of others, even help them out at times by my own effort. However God showed me something that is totally beyond my control.
Is it too easy to be justified freely? How can this be? Now this all makes sense to me because I know that God is love.
A lot of people asked me, "When will you get baptized?" I felt very uncomfortable at the beginning. "When did I say that I want to be baptized? Why did you say that?" Now I know that God used them to remind me of baptism.
After a long struggle, I felt exceptionally uneasy these past two weeks. I don't know why? I told my roommate that I have decided to get baptized but I did not tell anyone else. I did not have peace in my heart for a whole week until I called Brother Ting and Sister Ting to let them know. I thank God for giving me this peace through His salvation in Jesus Christ. (Elegant)