When Gods people follow good things happen
Matthew 2:1-23
Matthew 2:1–23 (ESV)
1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to
Jerusalem,
2saying, “Where is he who has been born king
of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with
him;
4and assembling all the chief priests and
scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so
it is written by the prophet:
6“ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come
a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
7Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and
ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
8And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go
and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me
word, that I too may come and worship him.”
9After listening to the king, they went on
their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before
them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.
10When they saw the star, they rejoiced
exceedingly with great joy.
11And going into the house, they saw the child
with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their
treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
12And being warned in a dream
not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel
of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child
and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod
is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
14And he rose and took the child and his
mother by night and departed to Egypt
15and remained there until the death of Herod.
This was to fulfill what the Lord
had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16Then Herod, when he saw that he had been
tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male
children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under,
according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
17Then was
fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and
loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
19But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother
and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
21And he
rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
22But when he heard that Archelaus was
reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there,
and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the
district of Galilee.
23And he went and lived in a city called
Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the
prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
I have said it
before and I will say it again and again! It all starts with a relationship!
·
You have to first establish the relationship with
your heavenly father
·
And he will lead you
·
It may not always be easy
·
Sometimes it be difficult
·
But he will always lead us down the right path
·
Most of the things that happen in this life are consequences
of us not following
·
The more we follow the more Love, Joy and Peace
we will have on this earth
That being said! Let
see where we see God in all this!
We see 3 times
that Gods promised was fulfilled to his people from the prophets!
VS 15 and
remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I
called my son.”
VS 17 Then
was fulfilled what was spoken by the
prophet Jeremiah:
18“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and
loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
VS 23 And
he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he
would be called a Nazarene.
·
Even through tragedy God’s will prevails
·
God knew Herod was going to kill all the males
under 2
·
That would have been 20 or so kids (population
around 1000)
·
God cannot stop evil in this world, but he can
lead his children from it
·
And God does not look at life like we do
o This
life is temporary
o Heaven
is permanent
o If
he has to lead us from here to there he will
o And
sometimes bad things happen to good people
o But
God always wins
o If
I die tomorrow God wins, and I get to see my Savior face to face
·
And from this we can take comfort in God keeps
his promise and his plan is always carried out!!!!
When God leads and
his people follow Good things happen!
Practically we can learn from this story too!
And 4 times we see
God leading and his children following!
12And being warned in a dream
not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel
of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child
and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod
is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
19But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother
and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
22But when he heard that Archelaus was
reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there,
and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the
district of Galilee.
God can lead you
in a number of way
·
A dream
·
A hey stupid friend (angel)
·
But mostly through his word
·
And through prayer!
God will always
get us the message, But the most important thing is we follow!
Sometimes
following means doing what is right no matter the personal cost
·
The wise
men didn’t follow the king!
o Sometimes
we have to go against the grain
o Sometimes
we have to say no
·
Joseph
had to move
o Sometimes
we are inconvenienced
o Sometimes
we have to move
o Switch
jobs
o Change
our schedules
o Most
of the times we just have to say no to ourselves
·
Sometimes
it’s scary
o Joseph
was afraid
o Something’s
that god ask of you will be scary
o Moving
o Switching
jobs
o Going
against the norm
o And
some are as simple as
§ Saying
no
§ Being
honest
§ Standing
up for what’s right, not what’s popular
Close
The biggest take
away!
God will get you
the message
·
Through conflict
·
Through hurt feelings
·
Through his word
·
Through prayer
·
Through good times and bad
The important thing
is that you listen
·
Look in the mirror
·
Pray hard about it
·
Talk to the people that will tell you the truth,
not what you want to hear
Warning signs you stopped
listening
·
You stopped praying
·
You stopped reading the word
·
You stopped talking to the people that will tell
you the truth
·
You withdraw away from things and circumstances to
avoid conflict
·
You have unresolved conflict
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