Fix Your Eyes on the Star - Part 1 — Erlo Stegen

Let us read from Matthew chapter 2. 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 have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, That you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the young child, and when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also.

When they heard the king, they departed, and behold, the star which they had seen 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 exceedingly great joy.

And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. We'll read so far. Amazing story. And we could call it the revelation of God to the Gentiles, to the heathen.

And one doesn't understand why, for Peter, and the brethren, the early church, why some were confused regarding this point. Because here God revealed himself to the heathen. They are the ones that came and worshipped the child.

We hear of the wise men. We don't really know who they were, and which country they actually came from. Some say it was from Persia, or from the Medes, or from some other Arab country. One doesn't really know exactly where.

But the word says they came from the east. Those were Gentile nations, heathens, people who didn't know God. I have a story which I shared before regarding the time when Jesus was born. At that time, throughout the world, there was a strong feeling that it was the time where God was going to reveal himself to mankind.

Now in China, they discovered a document. It was in the year 24, when Chou was ruling China. It was on the 8th day of the 4th month. At that time, a very bright light shone onto the palace, and this light came from the southwest.

The king was amazed about this bright light which shone on his palace. And so the king summoned his wise men, those who could explain things. And they explained to him that there are writings about a time when something great would happen, someone great would be born, someone who would be a savior.

And they said he would be great and holy. And they said for them it was written that he would appear in one of the lands in the west. And that his religion would spread as far as China. And so the king himself investigated and found this document that was written.

And it even said that it would happen in the time of Chou Wang. The king, when he heard this, his heart was filled with great joy. And then he chose certain of his men to go and investigate. One of the officials was Cai Yu, and Sun King, and Wang Chun, and 15 other men.

And he sent them to the west to investigate this whole matter. It's amazing. Now tradition has it that there were three wise men. And that they were kings. But that's not for sure, especially when we hear this matter from China.

So they undertook this mammoth journey, it's a long way from China all the way to Israel. They were not reluctant. They didn't complain saying it's a difficult journey. They persevered and went all the way to Jerusalem.

They got to Jerusalem, they went to Herod and said, O king, where is this new king that is born, the savior? The Messiah. Now they were wise. But here they were foolish. They used their own understanding in preaching.

They had been led by the stars. They were led by the star all the way. They kept their eyes on the star until they got to Jerusalem. Then they took their eye off the star and they used their own reasoning and logic.

They said, if a king is born in Israel, surely he will be born in Jerusalem. So they looked for the child there. And so they went to Herod. Not knowing that they were going to an enemy, someone who had an evil heart, who was only concerned about himself and his position.

Herod was shocked. And all Jerusalem with him. He was shocked. So Herod went to Jerusalem, and he was led by the star. And he said, O king, where is this new king that is born, the savior? The Messiah.

Now I can't go into why Herod and Jerusalem were shocked by the news. Because then we'd have to go into the whole history of the political situation of Jerusalem at that time. These wise men made a big mistake.

It's a pity because many Christians can make big mistakes. But we can't make big mistakes. We can't make big mistakes. We can't make big mistakes. We can't make big mistakes. And that goes wrong when we take our eyes off the star, off the Lord.

We no longer use Him as our point of reference, but we then follow our own hearts, our own understanding and the way we see things. There's something that happened many years ago. There was a captain, an experienced sailor of a ship.

Now his ship was already old. They were sailing through a very dangerous part of the ocean where there were many rocks. And there they experienced a terrible storm. And the wind drove them towards the shore where they were full of these rocks.

If the ship was to hit any of these rocks, it would have been the end of the ship and everyone on board as well. But he was an experienced captain. He knew the seas very well and he also knew his ship very well.

He went around to encourage his crew because they were all in a state of panic. They were expecting that the end was about to come. Now he was already very old and also quite weak physically. But his voice was still strong.

Then he called one of the young men and he said, Class, you stand here at my side. The mast of the ship was creaking under the strain of the wind. The whole ship, it sounded like it was about to fall apart.

And he said, Class, you stand right here next to me. I feel very weak physically as if my strength is not going to last. And he said, Class, if I faint or go into unconsciousness, please, I rely on you.

You must steer the ship. And he said, you see that star there? And Class said, yes, I see it. If I faint or go into unconsciousness, please, I rely on you. And he said, if my strength fails me and I can no longer steer the ship, then you take over and steer the ship in the direction of that star there.

And Class said, I understand, I see it. And he said, if I faint or go into unconsciousness, please, I rely on you. And he said to the young man, the moment you take your eyes off that star, I guarantee you that's your end.

You'll land on the rocks. You'll be finished. This captain was a Christian. He was faithful, reliable. He was trustworthy. You could build on what he said. And he said, and he said,. And the sailor said, Class, you see there's that star, but there is another star too.

The name of that star is Jesus Christ. And Class said, Captain, I know that. And Class testified, he said, there was just no other man like his captain. Forty. This captain had a heart for the Lord and he'd share the gospel with everyone he met, even on his ship.

And he said, there's no other way of salvation on this earth. And it didn't take long and the captain fainted. And they took him down into a cavern underneath where the control room was where the ship was steered.

And the last moments of his life he just kept on saying again and again, keep your eyes on that star. He said, boys, don't take your eyes off that star. And that's how he passed away. When I read the story, I said, what a wonderful way of describing the gospel.

If you look today, you'll see that it's not just how many people are going lost because they don't keep their eyes on the star. Young people going to school, they go to work, they go into the city, they go into the world, they go lost.

If you look at the children, the young people, there are few that are saved. And there are even some parents that forsake the gospel because of their children. It's tragic when you see parents who once had a heart that was on fire for the Lord, they lose that fire because of their children.

How sad it is. They're not like the wise men who forsook family, home, children, and all the rest. They're not like the wise men who forsook family, home, children, and all the rest. They're not like the wise men who forsook family, home, children, their riches, they forsook everything, saying we are going to worship, to look for this Christ child.

They were distracted by absolutely nothing. Not like today, where people will forsake the Lord just because of a dress, just because of clothing, because of the world. They forsake the Lord. Instead of clinging to Christ, no matter what, no matter what the cost.

Looking to Christ wherever they are, never taking their eyes off Him. These wise men forsook their gold, their frankincense, their myrrh, for Christ. But you, you forsake Christ for gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And they were heathens. And they were heathens. And they were heathens. But yet they recognized the Christ child, forsook everything for Him. But you, you grow up as a Christian and you forsake the Christ for all these other things.

Your eyes are not on Him. They got to Jerusalem where they'd made that terrible mistake. They followed their own mind, their own understanding, and their own logic. If you do that, it will get you into terrible trouble.

It will be your end, unless God is gracious to you. And Herod, a hypocrite that he was, he called his Help him. Then he got the scribes and the Pharisees. And they said, no, the Christ child, the Messiah, will be born in Bethlehem.

They knew it, but they didn't go there. And Herod, the hypocrite, told the wise men, go there, And the go and the child.

It He wanted to kill the child, not to worship it. And then they continued on their journey. And once they were back on the road, they saw the star again and rejoiced greatly. But it was tragic that for that time they lost sight of the star.

They no longer saw it. After it had led them for so long over such a vast journey, they lost it for that time. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

And when Herod realized that the wise men weren't coming back to him, they'd gone back another way, he went and killed all the boy children under two years old and much blood flowed. There was weeping.

Rachel wept. Be careful how you walk, how you live. If you make a mistake, much blood can flow as a result. And it will be said it's because of you, the mistake you made. Because you took your eyes off the star, the Christ child, so pray and ask God to boy who was studying.

The Lord called him as well into his service and he said no. The parents said no, finish your degree first. But the week before he got his degree, he fell ill and he died. He never got that degree. How will you ever stand before God if you've taken your eyes off him, if you haven't done what he has told you to do?

Even the wise men will condemn you. They'll say what? That which we sacrificed? That is what you were seeking and you the him. Heads.

The And Be