Multiply

for those of you hanging out with me you're welcome to be seated great to be in Bible study on Wednesday nights right y'all won't believe what I've done for two weeks in a row I got to watch my P's and Q here when I'm writing my lesson for whatever reason last week and this week instead of multiply I put magnify but the whole lesson's on multiply guess I just got beside myself and didn't know who I was anybody else ever do that well I welcome you back to our midweek Bible study hopefully you have had a great week and we are here together again to get into the word of the Lord this is I I don't know if you understand the the purpose and principle behind Wednesday Bible study there's a there's a plethora if you will of topics that we talk about and discuss and every month we have a different theme and whatnot guys if you're if you're hoping to make Heaven on Sunday church you probably won't Sunday church is good but you need a snack during the week if you will get through get some understanding get some challenge to dig into that's what Wednesday night's all about um it's very very important for your personal growth if you don't understand the word and you don't have knowledge of the word scripture is very plain what happened to a previous group of people they were destroyed for what reason lack of knowledge they just didn't know what to expect and so things were were done last week we looked at an old prophetic word concerning Messiah concerning the one that would come and uh it all relates to our season in which we are right now the multiply is the gift of Jesus coming to the Earth um we understand from the prophetic that salvation was to come Jehovah had become salvation that's the word Jesus um there was a way that God always has intended to spend time with his people sin of course we discuss was a separation Disobedience but then God's plan began to work now last week when we looked at that word um I want you to understand that God did not make a mistake he did not have to back up and try something different it has always been God's plan for Humanity right he made folk to love him and to to worship him he made people to connect with him to know him to have fellowship with him he made folk that understood the fact that knowing their God would make them stronger right so tonight we are going to look again at the beauty of the birth of Jesus it's very exciting if you will when you talk about it please don't be sidetracked with the the current events of of uh Christmas trees and santi's Claus and and all of those things I I was at the bank the other day and and the lady behind the counter they have their Christmas music playing and she said you know growing up you could find Christmas music on almost every channel on the radio but she said it took us forever to sit down and go through each one and finally we found one that has Christmas music and I said why do you think that is you know what I don't know if they're just trying not to play Christmas music now I said why the nerve I like Christmas music if it was up to me I'd play it in December my wife looks at me sometimes when she'll come in kitchen and eat breakfast with me and and it's July and I've got Christmas music going I said well I just woke up with Silent Night on my mind or whatever so tonight though I want to I want to look at something here that I think is worth delving into when we get to understand more about why Jesus came okay Matthew Chapter 2 we're going to read several verses here so you can tell everybody you got your Bible reading in Matthew Chapter 2 can somebody help me verse number one we'll start reading there as you can tell my voice is scraggly and craggly so I'm going to try to keep my cough drop in my mouth and help all of us enjoy it together Matthew Chapter 2 somebody begin reading at verse number one please real loud verse two someone verse three verse four verse five there six some on very good verse seven okay verse eight all right nine someone verse 10 both of you go there you go verse 11 verse 12 Tim right let's stand and we'll be dismissed miss this is of course Matthew's information okay now for those of you who are interested next Wednesday night my family and I we will not be here we will be with family in Florida for Christmas my mom's down there we're going to go see brother Vandy though is going to continue next Wednesday night and he will actually get to Luke Chapter 2 I've asked him to make sure he covers that one uh um but at the Matthew version I think that y'all y'all hang on to me for just a moment I think as humans we can say that the birth of Jesus makes no sense is that safe to say I mean it had never happened to that point nor since that point had there been a birth that came out of Virgin who had never been with a man we we understand the science if you will of how children are born and so forth and so for us to think that this makes sense is is a far stretch the beauty that you and I see in the story is the Simplicity in which God ordained the plan and then when you read from Old Testament writings up to the time we're we're reading about here in the account of Matthew we figure out that God actually knew knew what he was doing and he connects all of the lines and all of the lineages and all the dots but I want us to understand tonight that God knew from the very outset that salvation was going to be necessary for Humanity he also knew that men when left to their own devices they were not capable of making sound rational decisions we see that every day on our roadway don't we you don't have to answer that you know we we like you know what everything is just fine why did they make a left turn in a right lane anyway we do understand though that because God knew what was going to happen see again we are we go to church we're Bible Believers and so we spend a lot of time just assuming that the world understands this story but the truth is is that that actually is not the case in fact it has changed even in my generation in my my lifetime I mean I mean we all were convinced when I was the gay kneehi to a grasshopper that bathrobes came from the Middle East we we just knew that didn't we Tim because that's what we wore in our in our Christmas place and my my dad was short but I wasn't as skinny as him say key why you laughing over there you know so I had that robe all stretched out come on some of y'all know what I'm talking about I made a really great great mule though one year um in this account though we understand guys listen carefully that God actually knew what he was doing Humanity was going to need salvation and because of that we understand that the story again unfolds that uh the God himself robed his word in a flesh body and and was born through a virgin here on planet Earth tonight I want to take a couple of moments to look at some of the things that we may or may not every year look at and again some of you guys may have already figured these things out but we read here in the the Matthew account here that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea the days of Herod the king the very first thing mentioned here is there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem anybody ever wonder who were these wise men now contrary to what most would say there are three gifts that are mentioned in the account gold everybody say it frankincense and myrr myr what myr gold and Merr Frank no myrr another spice the history declares there could have been upwards to 12 of these guys traveling in a big car we go with three and and even in modern days because Hollywood wanted to hollywoodized it even gave him names of belto shazar and and mayor and stuff but and we don't know their names we don't have reference to that stay with me what I'm interested in more in this is these guys traveled to Jerusalem in search of one thing the one born born King of the Jews now these are bold statements to be made we are looking for one that is born King of the Jews there's not a whole lot of information here concerning these men concerning this Caravan of people um we of course we we all have our our imaginations and we allow the The Good Old World of Hollywood to help us to to have a better understanding but history clarifies some things for us in their customs of the day and maybe tonight with just a few moments I want to look at these Magi these magnificent ones these were men that were connected with royalty that's how they got the title Magi they they they were connected in some country in some family in some way they were in a Royal Court they would have been possibly advisors uh they they were the ones that would keep a king or royalty uh they would be up to speed on all the information pertaining to crops pertaining to other kingdoms the these wise men would would be scribes they could write make notes they could follow principles and guidelines and policies they were also able to read about the seasons that were coming and what to expect with the rain and with the the different types of things that happen with with the seasons they were astrologers now some I'm sure in our culture today some get sideways when you say wow you know these are stargazers and all believe it or not before GPS came that was the only way to navigate was by the Stars huh could anybody if you were lost in the woods find your way home in the night night time how U Siri how do I get home now what if you didn't have that could you what would you have to know what for but that doesn't tell you anything do you live North well that's a lot of useless information I'm just saying look the North Star right there okay which way we go I don't know but that's a North star we're on a great start here right is there moss on the trees what's that got to do with I don't know I just always heard the Moss and Oak and and the stargazers they would have been ones that honest listen carefully they didn't have the big whoop daddy telescopes like you would see today like the the hubbles or the one that's surrounding the whole je pull out there in the midst of everything they they simply watched movement of stars constellations how the moon and the sun interacted with them I don't know if you guys realize this but we have on the Gregorian calendar we have what's called months how many are there 12 very good you realize that that is all based on the cycles of the Moon we know that right and the sun and how many ups and downs of the Sun and how many presentations of the Moon it puts it into cycles and that's how Farmers for an example could tell when it was time to plant seed or to harvest or to to wait on the crops I mean on and on you can go the only way listen y'all got to follow me tonight only way this stuff matters is if somebody is making a record for an example last year did it snow in Chattanooga when January what there's 30 of them did it okay what day was that okay we'll come back okay did it rain three weeks ago Friday well I don't here's the thing that's an easy one this time right here's the thing that information was vital to their future to their livelihood to their past they would write in their books and in their manuals and their manuscripts on such date the moon was in this position the stars were lined this way in that day it was this temperature and the leaves grew this honestly this to you and I means nothing because we have a computer and iPad to go to but to them it was life now stay with me they we're going somewhere with this these men would have to be so intelligent they would have to know Sciences they would have to know math of course they would have to understand physics they would even have to grasp Med medicines they would have to know different things of Apothecary and what to to take with them and making themselves better if they got sick they would have to be an incredible wealth of information listen to me they simply did not wake up one day like many of us hope happens and poof it does not happen like that you got to do what study practice try cry mess up it doesn't just smack you in the face I know I know come along January 2nd or 3rd some of us are going to be like yeah I started a workout regimen this year and I'm already seeing the results not too many but they are there come on we're going to hope things just kind of happen these guys they would have had to understood history in various parts of the world not just theirs they would have had to understand the future movement of stars Planet alignments and so forth they would have to know enough about how Seasons would change and what this season was last year the year before and the year before that they would have to compare to have a a track record of an average of where they would be this year listen to what's going on here these Magi these Wise Guys they were more than just common folk these guys were intelligent enough they would have to be able to keep a database of information that Google would be astounded by the only reason Google makes sense is because of information like these guys had available they also had to be able to share their notes they couldn't just make notes in what you and I might call long hand nor shorthand does anybody here still write in cursive okay but in our culture today that's not done very much they write in typing is it's it's a font that they do real well I don't know who Times New Roman is but buddy I can hype the snot out of that listen to me in that day they would not only have to be able to make the notes but then share them with other cultures because their information from their side of where they were would be inter see we take for granted so much about the birth of of Jesus when God himself knew everything I put out here when I spoke it into existence these guys were going to have to have some knowledge of that stuff because if they're ever going to find Jesus they're going to need to know what they're doing so prophecies could be fulfilled why was it so important that the seasons the rotations of the moon and the sun and stars why was it so important for these Magi these these wise men from the East why did it matter somebody help me otherwise they would have gotten lost and we already know they're men so they already struggled I mean but in the desert who do you ask directions from hey camel guy all right got a stump out there or tree trunk or a yard any how do I get to Jerusalem I can see man I'd be so good at that how far you're in middle of the desert there's nothing that see that Doom right there that ain't the one now we're in Tennessee can go we can do redneck style what you going want to do get in that car we could we could do a Chattanooga police style what your going want to do get in that car get in that road right there sorry the timing listen to this the timing of the birth of the king of the Jews would not be something that would happen all the time but there was a specific exact moment in time that go this this is a once in a world time event that was about to take place this was not a once- in a-lifetime event this was something that would happen one time listen to this the truth is the entire world was looking for a king they simply didn't have all the information that they were looking for I'm convinced that the reason that the angel came to marry a young girl was because her preconceived ideas of what was going to happen were so small the only thing she could say when the angel finished was as you have said Let It Be I accept it don't you want to negotiate contract terms don't you want to look into it and make sure they say it's some fluke you might want to get a wise guy to come along and read the documents to make sure what you're signing come on Joseph you might want to pre up cuz you know you got so much in that hammer you carry he was a carpenter boy woo tough crowd listen even Herod even Herod said you you you come looking for what we're looking for one born King of the Jews says that he calls his scribes and his smart guys together in a huddle and he says to them you guys have any idea what these dudes are talking about and they're they're they're communicating and they're and they're they're looking at one another and they're saying well there has been prophecy written that that one would be born and and out of Bethlehem one would come but we we really didn't we we don't really know that's why did you read read it tonight that's why that that Herod took the Magi aside privately said listen apparently my guys aren't up to speed on the new operating system if you find him tell me where he's at so that I can come and worship him now all of us of course understand through reading the story that he didn't have up and up intentions why he was wanting to do what he was wanting to kill he there's no no way there is no way that Magi of Royal courts of other kings was going to come into this place Jerusalem and say we heard there's a new King born if that was going to happen there guess what the Magi were going to return home to say to their leaders here has lost his mind he's got a king over there that's born and that dude is a baby and herod's all upset you know what I'm saying I'm saying you see the the controversy here but there was one thing that happens listen carefully one precise moment in time only once would this ever occur so the attention to the detail God knew this is precisely what I will do and if people in 2023 want to truly understand the gift of Jesus the gift of my word becoming flesh they better understand all of the things that was gone into this particular moment in time there's no time to waste they they didn't have time the Magi knew what the writings were they knew what happens in the stars and the alignment when they went into the historical accounts they found all these writings and they're like you know what guys we can't just go out here and sachche around and and all have our party and all these communities and stuff saying we've come to look for the king of the Jews no we've got to move guys we got to move now here I I bring I bring it to this because I I think history is very important for us to understand where we are where we're headed okay what what was so different about this particular particular account that was not from is this the first king to ever be born no there were other kings that were born so it wasn't the fact that there was a baby to be born and would become king why did these wise men these Magi why did they care so much I'm glad you ask I got a few minutes here listen to me if you were to take take a chance and start to study this particular account and you were to jump out of the Old Testament back I mean out of the New Testament back into the Old Testament history tells us a very very important story let me Begin by this story by simply asking maybe somebody here has the answer already does anybody know where these wise men came from Bible tells us they came from the East but what I mean come on what's east of Chattanooga the rest of the world till you get back to it so what are we looking at here is this an okay question where do these guys come from and why did they come with such fervor and with such desire after after everything that they had learned and studied where did they get that information from where where did they draw their data from well I started looking at this and and the only thing we do know for sure is that these these Magi these wise men wore red hats that's the only thing we're secure of because it says they came from afar all right y'all still with me to make sure y'all still Josh you're going to use that one tomorrow at work you watch Old Testament stuff the Bible gives reference to this King whose name was Solomon anybody remember the story of Solomon anybody Solomon was known as who he was the wise man he was also what else the wealthy man and because he did not ask for wealth he simply asked for wisdom to know how to go in and come out of the people of God God said I see your heart and I'm going to bless you okay y'all know that story there's a story though that unfolds in the kings that we can read about and um he had such wealth more than any King to that point he actually built what would be considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World he built a a temple that was enormously ornate and just overwhelmingly beautiful he he sacrificed thousands of animals when they dedicated that Temple he he knew exactly what he was doing at the time though that he ruled listen to this at the time that he was the ruler and God was favor was on him there was a land called Sheba and it had a queen and the Queen of Sheba decided I have never seen this Solomon character so I'm going to gather up wealth riches and stuff from where I am and I'm going to go and I'm going to check on this guy I want to talk to him you may ever heard the story of the Queen of Sheba she was so overwhelmed the Bible says by the amount of of of of sacrifices the amount of food the amount of people the amount of of the the details and the attention the details the Bible says she was so overwhelmed with that Splendor that there were no words in her she could not even speak she was so overwhelmed with all of the things that she saw with Solomon Solomon read your story in Kings the Bible says that once they communicated and they chatted they talked for so I mean keep in mind to have the audience of the king of Jud of Judah his his Solomon had all this stuff this queen has to request an audience she comes she brings all of this stuff to give to him and then the Bible says right before he sends her away now for those of you that get stuck on Google or you get stuck in one of those other particular pieces of information you'll find all kinds of bits of information as Solomon wanted Queen Sheba and they had a child and now that child is I mean there's all kind of information out there you can find trying to connect Solomon God's people to Sheba here's the reason I even go there tonight the Bible said that Solomon sent the Queen of Sheba to her country and he even ladened her down with treasures from his country to take back to Sheba where she was from Sheba is thought to be in two locations and when historian this is so intriguing to me when the historians and archaeologists begin to dig and scratch around on the surface of the world they find all kind of stuff besides used gum they found one particular area in the South Horn of Africa that had some writings that looked like like it would have been focused on Sheba it's the southern part of AF continent of Africa but they also when they dug deeper into that they discovered that in Arabia was actually established before that one was established and so the historians go that direction and the reason they're wrapped around it is listen to this is because there was one place one place only that frankincense was ever mined and that was in Arabia and and frankincense for those of us it's much like tree sap like Pine if you will that comes out of a tree oozes it dries they break it off and then they cut it and they get the bark out of it they powder it up that frankincense has such an incredible odor they use it to burn for incense you can find this in the scriptures even it's it's for royalty it's such a painstaking event just to have enough and this is what she brought to Solomon so the historians say that said she either a had to have access to buy it or B she was the one who mined it because there was a place in the world that only had the Queen of Sheba attached to it as their Queen and she was the one who produced frankincense so here I am and I'm looking into this story and I'm like wait a minute to you and I this might mean very small this doesn't really mean a whole lot but when the historians come to understand that the wise men the Magi came from the East they came to find a baby born King of the Jews it very well could be that they most certainly came from Arabia looking for this king of the Jews born but the history that they gained it from was from when she was with Solomon and Solomon revealed to her the power of their God now you could say to me Pastor you're fishing you're throwing l no I'm saying to you that when you do your history there's got to be a reason that these wise men even took an interest in gathering up it could have been a six-month or longer journey and for them to ride hours and days and weeks and months to try to find this star where it was leaving you notice that his star is what they called it when they got to Jerusalem his star was not there they had their time with Herod they spent time with Herod what's it say and then when they went to leave the star and they followed it and it rested at the place where the Jesus was where the baby was where the king of the Jews was and it was at that time they went in and they presented gold frankincense and myrr of course by this time he's no longer in the manger in the stable he's now possibly two years old by this moment listen to this carefully so these guys have been on a journey to find this Jesus and Not only was this so important for God to give this understanding to these men so important that Matthew the tax collector who understood how to document things wrote out the detail that when they had had their audience with Jesus and they presented the gifts and that whole incredibly Majestic moment at that point when they were set to leave what happened God comes to them and says don't go home the same way you went Herod has another thought in mind why would God care where these Magi went it right wrong good bad or ugly you may be smarter than me to figure this out I'm still trying to wrap my little brain around it it could very well be that these wise men came out of Arabia and when they left they went you can go today to the small City in marba Arabia which is up on in Yemen if you will point of reference and there is still a temple there for the the queen of Shiva you can also go to the southern horn South Horn of Africa and guess what's there another Temple to the Queen of Sheba nobody in the South African horn speaks that language but the writings they found match the writings that are in that town now I don't know if this means anything to us here in Chattanooga Tennessee on this Christmas season but I want to under I want you to understand something if God cared enough to speak to Mary to speak to Joseph to make sure that these Magi had all the data that was required for them to get from point A to point B knowing that when they walked into the court of Herod God already knew the intent of herod's heart he had already establish you know what I need you to get to Herod because when Herod finds out that there's a baby born King of the Jews he's going to lose his mind I need Herod to lose his mind why because Herod is going to kill babies he's going to try his best to stop the move and the plan of God but there is no way he's going to find this child and kill him how do you know because the same vision that came to Mar oh I feel it tonight came back to them and said I need you to get up and I need you to go to the one place where he won't find you I'm going to tax everybody yeah I'm going to be smart good Joseph says to Mary we're going to Bethlehem why because of the city of David I'm of that lineage and I'm going to go there to be counted you're going to go with me to be counted rightfully they weren't married she should have stayed there y'all understand what God does when he does it right and you and I think for a moment that God puts us in a position and forgets about us and he don't know where we are he don't understand our struggle and our Strife I'm convinced tonight that the theme we're talking about in this whole month is to magnify by understanding what God's plan was for Humanity right now today you can speak to anybody on planet Earth about the birth of Jesus and they may or may not understand him but if you can give them the details that God did not leave anything to the roll of the dice to the spin of the wheel to the deck of cards he had all of the details worked out my mind I'm blown away at the fact that God knew exactly what it was going to take to get this Christ child to a place where at age 12 he would be found in the midst of all the Smart Guys of the day and to be talking with them and Mom and Dad come to the door and say where have you been and him to Simply say I've about my father's business and all the guys standing around them look at this 12-year-old and look back at Mom and Dad and the only thing they could say is what never have we heard like this young man saying so now I challenge you tonight you get up out of your chair carry yourself home you get ready for bed and you lay down in your bed sit in your easy chair whatever you do and I want you to simplify as much as you can what has happened to you when this Jesus came to planet Earth to save your soul from hell he knows what hell's about he's not afraid of hell he knows what your problems are about he's not afraid of your problems I come today to tell you that the birth of Jesus Don would you come was to magnify the possibilities to expand the possibilities of anybody from anywhere could understand that the birth of Jesus yall understand and I'm going to this is just a side note for you you study guys out there you want to know this story is also in the Quran this story is in the Quran their understanding of who and how and what this was now of course their details are a bit different but the story of how Sheba went and visited this smart guy and how that she left and how that frankincense all of those detail they're in the Quran what does that mean it means when 600 when that 610 when that book was written when that Revelation came he took it from where you don't think God God's not aware of that a baby born King of the Jews it messed Herod up so bad the Magi couldn't even go back home Mary and Joseph had to go and be counted and all of the prophetic all of the words from the Prophecies of old were point in to this Isaiah talked about it you know that the prophetic talked about all these guys of old Ezekiel Dan they all spoke of things that were to come and they were all wrapped around this Jesus so in closing it's 8:03 listen to me I if you're if you're not brave enough to go into Old Testament history and read it and try to comprehend and scratch around and try to dig it out I know it's deep and wide there's a million different Caverns you can get caught into and I know then I'll give you one that's not at all easier and that's Revelation anybody love studying Revelation you understand it yeah we we understand that I I only understand the first chapter whether I was in the spirit or not it the Lord knows man I ain't never written that before I wrote Love Letters to my wife back in the day when pen and paper were Savvy and I never wrote there hey sweetest of sweeties whether I'm parenthesis whether I'm in the spirit or not I do not know I've come to so for me to say I understand all of what patas demonstrated to John I I've got and then when just when I think I understand 10 10 and seven and horns and crowns and never mind that doesn't mean I'm ignorant or dumb it simply means that I ask God for understanding I want to know but I have a feeling there's a lot that I don't want to know anybody anybody believe still in the Rapture of the church you even know what that means but we believe it how does it make sense that you're going to poof be gone oh to be a you s uh shoe salesman after that day I'm not making frivolous of it I'm telling you this I believe that the Lord's coming back for a church it's in the scripture we call it the Rapture and as much as I don't understand about it I still believe believe it's what God's doing and I want to be a part of it so if I understand that then I have to take the time to study how was it these wise men came because listen the only reason Herod was doing what he was doing because of the words of the wise men and God knew that would be the case nobody the imagine the Shepherds trying to get to Herod hey we got to tell him something listen we he's out there on the hills and it's here angel big old thing came out and we skirt but he said behold I mean that never would have work am I right but these Magi come and what happens Herod says come in I want to talk to you I want to understand do you understand that what all that means come simply tell you this my friend tonight when we understand magnify God had to get the spirit in you and I so that we could share it with others so that it could be shared with others so that it could be magnified in others lives and it could grow there's no way that I would fully understand what these Magi were doing these Wise Guys man they had such a way of gathering information I dare say today for the majority of us that if we couldn't get there with a GPS we probably would turn off cuz we do know where the coffee shop is and that's where we gland to do our research help me out Sam stand with me put it a baby born King of the Jews once this Jesus was born once this baby took its first breath you got to realize something all of eternity would be different at that moment that's how important it was there's no way that Mary Joseph her parents his there's no way they could have ever known what was about to unfold because they they they were human they they simply live life but for ending tonight Bible gives us three or four references to how the angel spoke to Mary how Mary saw the actions of the people and the Bible simply says that she pondered them in her heart I am convinced that when Mary went went to the tomb that day all of this was in her heart all of what she had heard all of what she had seen all that had unfolded and as that story began to move you and I today and receive from that Revelation would you pray with me right now Lord help us to understand the perfectness of your plan the perfect plan every detail every crevice every crease every fold every left every right every up every down it's your plan we are submitted to that God we we understand we embrace the fact that It Is by your word and your promise and your plan God that things are accomplished the magnitude Lord of this event is so incredibly large we can't even fathom Lord the millions and millions of lives that have been altered and changed because of this one thing you came to Earth tonight Lord As We Gather here we want to understand God the detail that you put into it and how much we should appreciate and love it talk about it and share it this time of year Lord is not simply another time but every day God we have to understand the value of Salvation there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved it is is only Jesus Lord let us appreciate greater and greater power of your word the power Lord of your plan and purpose show us your way lead us Jesus I pray every day go with us God as we leave this place let us ever be under your hand give us a love and a passion for the things of God and to know Lord and to embrace you every day we thank you in advance and we love and appreciate your goodness to us in Jesus name thy kingdom come Lord thy will be done in Jesus name somebody say Amen love all of you I'm so glad you came tonight I believe in you go with God be nice this week don't forget the rest of the week this Sunday program come ready to be programmed or invite somebody to come with you great idea love you guys