# The gift of gold

Category: Worship & Praise
Key Passage: Matthew 2
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: June 7, 2024

Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Matthew chapter number two. Matthew chapter number two. We have finished our series on the book of Ezra. We’re in that book almost all year long. I believe I know what God wants us to start on, but we’re going to wait until the first of the year to do that, a new series on the Wednesday nights. So, for the next three Wednesdays, counting tonight, we’ll talk about the gifts that were given to Jesus in Matthew chapter number two.

Tonight, just kind of starting that, we’ll just read through a little bit of Matthew 2, maybe read a little bit and talk a little bit, and try to get to the first gift that the wise men gave Jesus. So we’re going to read just the first two verses. We’ll pray, and then we’ll read down several verses and just try to give you a little feel of what’s going on and then talk about these gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus.

So, Matthew chapter number two, we’ll start verse number one. Would you please stand if you’re able, to get you awake and to show respect to the word of God also?

I’m praying that little while will kind of get our minds going toward Christ at Christmas. It’s easy to get so busy—me too—and our minds have got so much going on just here and there and yonder for us to forget Christ at Christmas. I’m talking to myself here too.

June the 3rd, 2006, there was a birthday party for Michael Emmanuel. He was turning six, just a little fellow. And they were in Boca Raton, Florida. They went to the check page. They had the birthday party, and everything went good. It was great. The problem was when the party was all over, all the children and adults climbed into three different vehicles and headed home, all besides little Michael.

Apparently, the birthday boy had returned to the play area. And when everybody went home, he was still there playing. And the employees found little Michael wandering around the restaurant at 10 p.m. that night and called the police. Michael’s mother assumed that her son was staying with his grandmother. She didn’t realize the boy was missing until the next morning. Can you imagine?

Now, here’s the point in telling that: the whole birthday party was for him, and they forgot about him.

And Christmas is all about Christ. It is. Me too. It’s easy to forget about Christ. So we don’t want to do that. We don’t want to do that. And let’s just maybe these Wednesday nights, let’s talk about these gifts. God is using a lot of different ways, but let’s get our minds, our hearts on Christ and the Christ of Christmas.

Let’s just read these two verses, pray, then we’ll sit down and go through them a little bit here. Matthew 2, verse number one: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”

And let’s go to the Lord in word of prayer as we get started tonight. Father, Lord, would you take just this little Bible study, a little focus on the gifts? Father, would you do that, Lord, please? These are great people, Lord; they’re faithful to your house on the Wednesday night. Lord, please give them something, and give us everyone. We need such a diversity of needs. Lord, only you can meet those needs, I pray that you would. Father, I’m asking for that, would you do so? In the name of Jesus, I’m asking, so I’m asking in faith. Father, we’ll thank you for it in Jesus’ name. We pray. Amen.

Thank you much for standing. You may be seated.

Notice what he said there. “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east.”

Now, we think the east is Persia; some will say Arabia. But you remember we’ve had the chart up many times, studied in the book of Ezra, and back over in Persia or Babylon, we would call it in the book of Ezra. That’s the long ways. Who can help me out? We reviewed it many times. If you go as a crow flies, how many miles would that be?

Five hundred. Wow, you remember. That’s good. If you follow the rivers there, like mostly typically the old way, how many miles would that be? You folks are intelligent. I tell you what, y’all are smart out there. For Tennesseans, y’all are pretty good, I’ll tell you for sure, you know.

And these wise men, they came from the east, probably the same area there, and they came a long way, and they’re traveling to see the King of the Jews. Now, someone says, how did they know about it? We don’t know everything. We tend to think they knew about the star and about the King of the Jews, the Messiah, the Savior, from Daniel. Remember, Daniel was over there, and the book of Daniel gives us so much light about all that.

And of course, Daniel was part of the wise men or the Magi, the counselors over there in the east. So it’s from the same crowd of people. And so these wise men—by the way, praise the Lord for Daniel; he had such a good testimony. And it’s amazing what God can do with a good testimony. You might not know—this was probably well after, it was well after Daniel’s time—and yet there’s a good chance still his light was shining. And you just live for God wherever you’re at, in your neighborhood and your work and your relatives. It’s just amazing what God can do with our little bit.

And so these wise men are coming all the way over from the east. They did not know exactly where Jesus would be. He was to be the King of the Jews. The capital city of that area where the Jewish people were at the time was Jerusalem. So it kind of made sense, if you will, for them to come to Jerusalem, though Jesus wasn’t born there. That’s what’s going on. That’s what we’re at here.

Verse number one, verse number two, and we’ll start there, verse number two, saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.”

“And when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” Now, we often think of three wise men—the song, “We Three Kings of Orient”—and all this hum. The Bible never says there were three. We get that probably because there are three gifts they gave. Probably a whole lot more than three. If they’re traveling that far, very dangerous that far, they probably had a big group.

And if it shakes up all Jerusalem, the capital city, it had to be a pretty big host of people. Everybody knows what’s going on. If it’s just three wise men, they probably wouldn’t know them, but probably a large group of travelers. Maybe a lot of wise men; we don’t know. But just kind of, oh, maybe from the… Probably get three, but that’s not Bible. Probably a whole lot more than just three because all Jerusalem was troubled with Herod the king.

Verse number four: “And when he had gathered all the chief priests…” Now, he wasn’t a Jewish person himself, but he knows that the chief priests and the scribes, they know what’s going on, so he goes to ask them. “When he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded”—notice that, he demanded—“of them where Christ should be born.”

They said it to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet.” By the way, that prophet is Micah, Micah 5:2 is where it’s found at. “‘And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people.’”

So the people that have been studying the Old Testament, the Torah, whatnot, they knew Micah 5:2. He’ll be born in Bethlehem. And so, O Herod, he finds out where he’s going to be born at.

And now look in verse number seven. “Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.” He’s trying to figure out how old the King of the Jews would be. “And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search diligently for the young child.’” Notice that—not baby, young child. “‘When you have found him, bring word again to me, that I may come and worship him also.’”

At this point, we include in the Christmas story—I’m doing it tonight—but Jesus is probably much older than a baby. Later on, he kills everything from two years old and under. So there’s a good chance Jesus was one, one and a half, maybe close to two. But we didn’t call him a baby here; he calls him a young child. You’ll notice a little bit later on they were in a house; they weren’t in the inn. And so probably a little bit older here, a little bit later on in the story.

I love manger scenes. I love it. I mean, praise the Lord, we have a manger scene we put up in our house. And I love to put it up. Our dog Reagan—we used to have Reagan for years, and he’s passed—but Reagan, we put that manger scene up. Reagan, he was outside. Reagan thought he had friends. Man, he would go over and lay down by the shepherds or the Magi and the sheep. We have a little manger scene, and he just thought, “Man, I got friends out here beyond the yard,” you know. He loved it.

And I love manger scenes. I like them. I mean, I’m not a guy that preaches against Santa Claus, but man, get Santa Claus out there; put the manger scene there, you know. I just like it. And usually, the manger scene, you’ll see the wise men there. And I’m not trying to knock it; I like it. But honestly, it was probably well after Jesus was laid in a manger; probably a lot older. And so just kind of want you to understand what’s going on here.

And here’s an interesting thing about it. Here’s an interesting thing. Oh, Herod, he is a tricky old fellow. He’s trying to kill Jesus. By the way, he’s an older man; he didn’t have to do all this, but he was worried about his throne and whatnot. But he wants to kill him. But notice what he says at the bottom of verse number eight: “He said, ‘Bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.’”

And just a side note there: sometimes a whole lot of worldly things and sometimes sinful things go home in the name of worship. And it’s almost like, well, if you put the tag of worship on it, everything’s all right. Same thing with Herod. He said, “I want to worship him.” Just because someone says “worship,” don’t make it right. Don’t fall for that.

And by the way, I’m for worshiping God in church, praise the Lord for that, but I’m for worshiping God on Wednesday, Tuesday also, Thursday, Friday, Saturday also. And a whole lot of worship in the Bible, if you want to get technical about it, was it in church? The first time it was mentioned was old Abraham taking his son, Isaac. First time it was mentioned in the Bible. And just him and his son, he was going to offer his son up as a sacrifice. First time you don’t find the word “worship” mentioned in the Bible. But just be careful with that word. It’s a good word, but Satan also knows some of those good words too, and old Herod did too. That’s what’s going on there.

Verse number nine, verse number nine, Matthew 2. Verse number nine, if I can get over there. You’re already there. If a pastor just gets there, you know. Verse number nine: “And when they had heard the king, they departed. And, lo, the star”—watch this—“which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.”

“And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with the exceeding great joy.” It’s a great, great lesson here. I preached on it here, I think, more than once. But they saw the star well over there in the east, 500 miles away, approximately, straight across. They saw this star. “Man, the King of the Jews is born.”

They travel all the way over to the capital city, Jerusalem. I’m not sure when they lost the star, but they travel over here in the capital city. They go to the king. King Herod said, “Hey, where is he this morning, King of the Jews?” And Herod said, “Let me find out about this deal with some king. I’m the head honcho here; I don’t want any other king around here.” And so he goes to the chief priests and scribes. They said, “Well, he’s going to be born in Bethlehem.” So he meets privately with these wise men, says, “Hey, Bethlehem. Go find him. I want to worship him.”

And so, all right, we’ve got to go to Bethlehem. And we don’t know about that king. He said he wants to worship him, but I usually wise men kind of tell me there’s something right there. And well, the scribes, they read it from Micah 5:2. So they started heading off to where he’s supposed to be born, just a little babe. All right, we thought the king was going to be born in the capital city. We can’t find him. All right, we’ll go over here and look over there. And all of a sudden, the star appears again.

Did you notice when they saw the star? Man, they started rejoicing with exceeding great joy. “Oh, there it is again!” And it led them right to the house where Jesus was. Now, here’s a lesson in it, isn’t it amazing when God leads us? At the beginning, so often it’s so clear. I mean, just shining: “This is what God wants.” I forget when I was young and God called me to preach, man, I knew exactly what’s exciting.

But I remember for years when I wasn’t in the ministry—I had already graduated Bible College, I had already been out in the ministry for a couple years, and then I was out of the ministry for four years. And I’ll tell you what, it got pretty vague then. I thought, “Lord, Lord, you called me to preach, and I’ve already graduated Bible College, I’ve been in the ministry.” Now, I remember, I’ve told you many times, I remember I welded at the time, going into the factory and having a prayer meeting with that hood on. You can have good prayer meetings with welding hoods on, you know, nobody can see it and everything. And I’d be welding, but those tears hitting that welding hood, saying, “Lord, have you put me on the shelf? Is it all over?”

And it got real vague for a while. Now, I praise the Lord, you just keep faithful. And God, in this time, that star appeared again. Oh, and it did! Woo-hoo! And it let them right to the place they’re supposed to be. God’s will is often like that. And you just keep following the light he gives you, and in his time, he always gives you the light you need. Always does. And a great lesson there from the wise men: they saw the star right when they needed it, and it led them right to the right place. And by the way, there’s joy when you pass the test too. “Man, there’s a star again! We’re still finding it!” They just kept following the light he gave them, and it led them right where they wanted to be, where God wanted it to be.

But let’s keep going, verse number 11. We’re about to get to the gifts. We’re trying to get down to the gifts, but we’re trying to get a couple things along the way, along the path. They were in verse number 11: “And when they were come into the house…” The old sage said, they’re in a house by now. “…they saw the young child”—there it is again—“with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him.”

Now, I want you to just point that out for just a moment here. They didn’t worship Mary. You understand? And I’m not trying to be mean to the Catholic people; I love them. I’d love to see them get saved and not depend on works, depend on Jesus. They didn’t worship Mary; they worshipped Jesus. And make that very clear: there’s no Mary worship in the Bible. She called the Lord her Savior, too. She needed a Savior, just like you and I need a Savior. But anyway, they worshipped Jesus, him.

“And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

“And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.” By the way, even when sinful people try to use you, if you’re doing right, you’re listening to the Lord, your Father in the Lord will take care of that, and he did there also.

But these gifts—very quickly, let’s just look at these gifts they gave Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Tonight, let’s just talk very briefly about this saying they gave him gold. Three things about they gave Jesus gold, all right?

First thing: They came to worship a king. You see that in verse number two right there? Verse number two: “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east, we are come to worship him.” You see, a king is worthy of gold.

And he said, “Hey, we’re not just coming to worship a baby. We realize that baby is the King. He’s King of the Jews. He’s King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.” And a king is worthy of the best this world has to offer. He’s worthy of much more. He’s worthy of gold. And they said, “This is a king we’re going to go worship. We’re going to leave way over here, 500 miles, 900 miles traveling. We’re going to leave all that. We’re going to come over here. And this is a king we’re going to worship.” He’s worthy of gold.

Now imagine, I don’t know how many years they had maybe been saving gold, storing it up. There’s a lot of—it can be very dangerous traveling that distance in that day and time, and it’s very dangerous carrying expensive things. And they, maybe they had it hid, their gold, but they had gold and they’d been saving it and protecting it in their treasures. He said, “This is a king we’re going to worship here. He’s worthy of gold.”

Hey, friend, Jesus is still worthy of gold today—the very best we have. And by the way, he’s not just a king; he’s King of Kings. You realize King of the Jews? It’s not just a symbol or, you know, a king. We have a little symbol of a king. No, no. One day he will sit on the throne of David as King of the Jews; he’ll be king of the world. It’ll be the Washington D.C. of the day and time. He’ll rule and reign the whole world. He’s King of Kings now, but one day he’ll come back riding on a white horse, and he’ll put his feet on the Mount of Olives that will actually split at that moment, and he’ll say, “Hey, this old world is my world. Satan, I’m going to thump you and put you in the bottomless pit. I’m going to sit on the throne of this world. It’s my world.” He’s King of Kings, literally. He will literally sit on the throne and rule this world. He’s worthy of our best. He is King of the Jews; he’s King of the universe, Jesus.

These wise men, they brought gold. Let me just—have you made Jesus your king? The king’s got power. Man, he holds your life, really, the kings of the day and time. I mean, whatever they said, that’s it. I mean, they were over you. Do you recognize Jesus as your king?

They bow to kings. I mean, they get on their knees, and they get on their knees and they bow before a king. I mean, just back… Have you ever bowed to Jesus?

I never forget that part we had the baptism service in Jefferson there. Never forget years ago I was over there and had seen some Muslims put the prayer rug out. And they got all the way down on their hands and knees and bowed before a false god of Muslims, Muhammad. That’s going to send them to hell. And above, in front of everybody, they bowed all the way down to really…

And so many things else you and I can say, but here’s the thing: Hey, have we, have you, have I ever got on my knees? And that’s not a bad thing to do. Just get on your knees. He’s worthy of it. Just get on your knees before Jesus, maybe in your prayer closet somewhere. But just have you ever bowed the knee physically, or maybe even in your heart, and got on your knees and said, “Jesus, you’re king. I bow before you”? He’s worthy of that. He’s king. These folks knew, “Man, we’re worshiping a king. We’re going to bring gold to him.” They recognized he was king.

There’s just two more thoughts here, and we’re done. Another thing about this gold: Gold represents, it symbolizes man’s wealth, worldly possessions. And they thought the king was worthy of really monetary—money, if you will—gold.

And I already mentioned, I don’t know how much. I don’t know how much they were, how long they had been saving up. Well, they got this gold out, and they said, “We’re going to give this king.” By the way, we’re having our Christmas offering on December the 22nd. That’s very appropriate. I mean, giving something to Jesus. I mean, that’s what they were doing; they were giving monetary things to Jesus. Very appropriate.

Now, you said, “Well, I tithe, and you want to do it for something else.” That’s fine. And I read today about a man that every year he gives a lot to needy people. Hey, praise the Lord if you want to do it that way. Your tithe, I believe the Bible’s clear: the tithe ought to go to the Lord’s house. But beyond that, hey, if you want to do it another way, I’m good with that.

But here’s what I’m getting at: Does the king have your wallet? I’m just being honest tonight. I mean, if it’s got all of me, part of me is my money. All getting quiet on me tonight. So, man, preacher, you’re going from preaching to meddling tonight, you know.

Now, I’m not saying you give every penny to the church. I’m not trying to say that. I’m saying, obey the Bible and tithe. I’m saying that. But beyond that, friend, you ought to say, “Lord, everything I’ve got, you’re the one that gave it to me in the first place, and whatever you want me to do with it, it’s yours.” Whether you want me to give it to here or give it to my wife to go shopping—ladies, you can wave a white hanky on that—or whatever. But, Lord, it’s not mine; it’s yours. You tell me what you want me to do with your money. Y’all going to say amen right there? Thank you, brother Frank, and one another. Yeah.

They were bringing their gold to Jesus. That’s what they’re doing. Can I say this just while I roam the subject? He said, “Preacher man, let’s get to the frankincense.” Amen. But can I say this? Jesus, he did—he did go over to where the treasury was, where they’re putting the money in.

Now, I’ve heard an old preacher, he used to keep track of who gave what. And I’ve said this often: I don’t know who gives what; I don’t want to know. I don’t… Preacher used to say, “Well, Jesus watches who put in what in the offering,” you know. And I used to say, “Well, buddy, you’re not Jesus,” you know. I wouldn’t say it out loud; I said it in my mind and my heart, you know. But I do that, and I believe that’s what God wants. But I will say this: Jesus did go over and look and sit, and he did talk to his disciples about—he did comment on it, did he not? Yeah, so he is concerned about what goes in there, whether it be here or else. I mean, Jesus did, and he decided, hey, while he was here, his three and a half years of public ministry, he said everybody needs to know—he went over there and he said, “Hey, that widow gave more than that.” But he was watching who gave what. Is that not right or not?

They did. He’s concerned about that. By the way, the Bible does say, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” It was a good day for us when we decided we’re just going to start giving more by faith. It just seemed like God began to bless more. But they gave gold. Wow, he was a king, and it was—it’s a symbol of man’s wealth. And they took their wealth, the worldly possessions, if you will, and they gave it to Jesus.

Let’s look at one more thing, and we’re done because y’all are a little quiet on with the night there. We’ll get to the money here, but let’s get this last part right here. Look at this thing, verse number 11. You’ve already seen it. We’ll just point out something that’s very obvious. And verse number 11 right there: “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened the treasures, they presented unto him…” Would you tell me what the three gifts were? What are they presented to him?

Here’s what I want you to know: is the order. The gold was first. The Bible has always been for first fruits giving. It is. When the children of Israel finally entered into the Promised Land, they crossed over the Jordan under Jericho, under Joshua. And what was the first city? It’s the word your pastor just said. He was supposed to say, Jericho. Jericho. Jericho was it? And they’re about to take them all, but that first one. He said, “Don’t take anything.”

And remember, remember the fellow, he saw the Babylonian garment and the wedge and all that of gold. Don’t know—anyone remember his name? What was that man’s name? What was it? Achan. Yeah, Achan. And Achan, the way the Bible words it, Achan took of the cursed thing. Kind of reminds him, Alachi over there when he said, “Look, you’ve robbed God in tithes and offerings, and you got a curse.” Now, here’s what I’m just—it was the first city. Didn’t say that about Achan or all the others. It was the first one.

First fruits giving. The Bible’s always for first fruits giving. It’s a principle throughout the Bible. Isn’t it interesting, oh, Elijah? Remember, oh, Elijah? And the famine was there, and God said, Elijah wants to go over there to the widow. The widow was there if that… And it’s always interesting to me. He said, “Hey, would you make me some food, some cake first?”

And this was always—she said, she said, “I got two sticks.” It’s in 1 Kings 17. First Kings 17. I mean, honestly, today I looked it up and I couldn’t remember exactly, but I remember it just always sticks in my head. She said, “I got two sticks.” So I looked up “two sticks.” Sure enough, it came up on my little Bible study thing, and it’s 1 Kings 17. But here’s the thing she said: “Me and my boy, we just got enough to make a couple pieces of some pancakes, and we’re going to eat it and die.” That’s it.

And Elijah said, he said, “Look, would you make me a little cake first?” Now, I think that takes faith for the old Elijah. I remember the first time I went to visit a little poor widow in the hospital one time years and years ago, good lady in our church. And she said, “Pastor, I want to give you my tithe to put in the offering plate.” And I thought, “Man, I don’t take from this lady.”

And well, the Holy Spirit got all over me. I’ll take care of that widow if she does what she’s supposed to. And I’ve learned over the years, but it’s the best thing that little widow could do. And God did take care of it. But it took a lot of faith on Elijah’s part. That’s where Elijah said, “Make me the cake first.” You check it out, 1 Kings 17 sometime, not now, because we’ve got to hurry along, and then we have a business meeting. And she did.

And you know this story: there was always that little oil and little cruse in the bottom of the barrel, always was there, and they ate off of it for days and days and days. Same thing over there, Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first…” Look over in Proverbs 3, if you go. Proverbs 3, real quickly. A Proverbs 3. And just this principle: first fruits giving.

They gave him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. First thing was gold. Proverbs 3, here’s the principle you’ll find in God’s word. Proverbs 3, verse number nine: “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So that thy barns shall be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”

And here’s the thing: They gave the gold first, and this saying they gave the first fruits giving. It’s a matter of faith. So all of—it’s a matter of faith is what it is. And they’re saying, “I hear it so often on Christian radio. Some of these Christian financial guys on the radio, they got some good stuff here and there, but oh, so often they do not teach first fruits giving. If they got any left over, then tithe. If you got any left over, give.” Friend, there’s no faith in that. Not a bit of faith in that. That’s you working in your flesh.

Look, you’re giving faith. It has stuff to do. Yes, it’s tough to do. But you talk to anybody that did it for a couple years and ask if God didn’t bless. It’s not the matter of the money. God doesn’t need my little bit of money or a little bit of money. God’s got all the money in the world. It’s that faith that it represents. God is pleased. “Without faith, it is impossible to please him.” I want to just say, “Hey, I’m going to obey the Bible.” Down through the years, 20 years, and I don’t complain. I’m going to set it up like that. But I get paid once a month, and we just kind of did it at the beginning. That’s the only way the church did it at the beginning. We just never changed. We’re in the habit of it. We’re not changing now to mess our world up. But so many times we’re just beginning of the month, we got paid, and so we’re going to write that check. How are we going to? I don’t know. We’re going to write that check 30 days, 31 days. Man, some of those months were really, really long. You know what I’m talking about. But we just write that check at the beginning, that tithe check. Why? Faith. God always provided. Always does. And I’m not just talking about tithing tonight. I’m talking about how the Lord wants you to give over and beyond that.

But I’m just simply saying, if we’re going to study these gifts, the first one was gold. No matter how you look at it, how you slice it, it’s gold. And they gave gold, frankincense…

Now, here’s a beautiful thing. We’re going to be done because we have a business meeting. But Joseph and Mary, probably a poor couple from Nazareth. Nazareth. The Brentwood or Franklin of the area, okay? It’s more the trailer park over there. You don’t talk about, you know. The Marlon, I guarantee, is over there saying the Fairview. Was that it or not? Yeah. Is that you saying? That’s what he was saying, yeah. And all of us, we got our things, you know. But they probably didn’t have much money.

Look, look, if they had money, they’d have found a place. They didn’t have to, you know, when they went to Bethlehem. My wife and I—she said that she had heard Rush Limbaugh years ago say something like, “If you got enough money, that plane, you can get on that plane.” I mean, if you got enough money, he was just saying, and he was just trying to say, “Hey, folks, I’m telling you, money speaks. And if you need that, that on that train, it might be full, but if you got enough money, you’ll get on there.” And he just commented.

And if Joseph and Mary had enough money, they’d have found him a place to stay. They probably weren’t very rich, probably a poor couple. And here’s what I’m getting at: But right after this, hey, Joseph needs to move your family and that young child over to Egypt because of Herod. Herod sent the word out, “Hey, kill them all, two years and under.” So sad. Hey, how’d that poor couple have the money to go all the way over to Egypt? God had provided. Yeah. They had some gold. Why? God had met the needs for them to do God’s will from these guys that said, “We’ll take some gold and give it to them.” God always uses our little bit.

And they came to Jesus and said, “Hey, they worshipped him, and they said, ‘We want to give my treasures: gold, frankincense…’”

Let’s buy our heads, if you will, please. Our heads are bowed, eyes are closed. I won’t have you raise your hands tonight, but it would just be a good night to say, “I want to make him king. I want to worship him. I want to bow before him. I give my life, my heart, my future, my reputation, my wallet. Give it all. Give it all to you, whatever you want, Lord.” Does he have your all? Yeah, first fruits in the Bible. It’s there. All over.

Hey, let’s just make him king tonight. Let’s just make him king. Let’s bow before him tonight. Let’s just give whatever you want, Lord, it’s yours. I’m yours. He’s worthy. Let’s just spend some time in invitation time, just making him king, giving your life, bowing before him. Give it on. Yes, if he’s convicted about giving, it’s okay, Lord, whatever you want. However, maybe he leads you to do it, but you’ll be obedient. Let’s make him king, give our lives, our heart…

Would you stand, please, and we have a word of prayer and arrangements to play. Just be obedient. Lord, Father, thank you for these wise men. Lord, it’s just amazing how you worked so mightily in the Christmas story. Father, thank you that we have the privilege of giving to you in so many different ways. Father, tonight, I pray that you would help us to take our gold and just lay it before you. And everything you want, we want to bow before you tonight. We worship you. Lord, I pray during this invitation that our people help us just to be sincerely worshiping and bowing before you tonight. Lord, we’ll thank you and praise you for what you do in Jesus’ name. We pray. Amen. Would you just spend some time to the Lord? Be obedient to you. Spend some time to the Lord as our instruments play. Let’s just bow before the king. Let’s bow before the king tonight.

Hey, this Christmas, this whole season, let’s just find ways to bow before him. I like it in the morning time. I don’t think I did it this morning, but a lot of times I go in there and plug the Christmas tree lights on, it lights up. And my wife got LED Christmas lights; they’re a little brighter, you know. And I’ll try to thank him for being the light of the world and just focus on Jesus for a little bit, first thing in the morning. And let’s just work at that. Let’s make him king all Christmas season long. And you’ve got to work at it. This whole world gets so busy we forget about—you know, the little six-year-old boy got left. And let’s make sure Jesus is right in the middle of it all.

We do have a business meeting. Everyone is welcome to stay. Even if you’re not members, you’re welcome to stay. I think we’ll only have three fights in the business meeting tonight. Not too many. It won’t be too bad. I’m teasing, of course. But if you—everyone’s welcome to stay. We do have a couple just details about the land to kind of satisfy the bank, and since we’re doing it, we’ve got a couple of the items that have come up. We need to just address maintenance-wise, whatnot. So, but let’s pray before we get going. If you need to leave, of course, we understand that. But everyone’s welcome to stay, and we’ll have a quick business meeting tonight.

And so let’s have word of prayer as we get going. Father, Lord, we do love you. Thank you. You’ve been so good. And help me, Lord, but forgive me. I get so busy. Help me not be so busy.

Original File: The Gift Of Gold - Pastor Paul Chisgar Wednesday 1419