Preface

For more than a century, Charles Haddon Spurgeon's sermons have been consistently recognized, and their usefulness and impact have continued to the present day, even in the outdated English of the author's own day.

Why then should expositions already so successful and of such stature and proven usefulness require adaptation, revision, rewrite or even editing? The answer is obvious. To increase its usefulness to today's reader, the language in which it was originally written needs updating.

Though his sermons have served other generations well, just as they came from the pen of the author in the nineteenth century, they still could be lost to present and future generations, simply because, to them, the language is neither readily nor fully understandable.

My goal, however, has not been to reduce the original writing to the vernacular of our day. It is designed primarily for you who desire to read and study comfortably and at ease in the language of our time. Only obviously archaic terminology and passages obscured by expressions not totally familiar in our day have been revised. However, neither Spurgeon's meaning nor intent have been tampered with.--Tony Capoccia

All Scripture references are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New York Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

"Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." Matthew 2:2

The incarnation of the Son of God was one of the greatest events in the history of the universe. Its actual occurrence was not, however, known to all mankind, but was specifically revealed to the shepherds of Bethlehem and to certain wise men from the east. To shepherds--the illiterate, men of very little learning--the angels in choral voices made known the birth of the Savior, Christ the Lord, and they hurried to Bethlehem to see the great sight; while the Scribes, the writers and expounders of the Law, knew nothing concerning the long promised birth of the Messiah. No band of angels entered the assembly of the Sanhedrin and proclaimed that the Christ was born; and when the chief priests and Pharisees [elite religious leaders] met together, though they gathered around copies of the law to consider where the Christ would be born, still it was not known to them that He had actually come, nor do they seem to have taken more than a passing interest in the matter, though they might have known that the time was very near when the Messiah would come, as spoken of by the prophets. How mysterious are the times for the giving of grace; the lowly things are chosen and the eminent are passed by! The coming of the Redeemer is revealed to the shepherds who kept their flocks of sheep by night, but not to the false religious shepherds whose allowed their sheep to stray. Admire the sovereignty of God.

The good news was also made known to wise men, magi, students of the stars and of old prophetic books from the far east. It would not be possible to tell how far off their native country lay; it may have been so distant that the journey occupied nearly the whole of the two years of which they spoke concerning the star. Traveling was slow in those days, surrounded with difficulties and many dangers. They may have come from Persia, or India, or even from the mysterious land of Sinim, now known as China. If so, strange and unknown must have been the speech of those who worshipped around the young child at Bethlehem, yet He needed no interpreter to understand and accept their adoration. Why was the birth of the King of the Jews made known to these foreigners, and not to those nearer home? Why did the Lord select those who lived hundreds of miles away, while the children of Israel, in whose very midst the Savior was brought forth, were yet strangely ignorant of His presence? See here again another instance of the sovereignty of God. Both in shepherds and in Eastern magi gathering around the young Child, I see God dispensing His favors as He wills; and, as I see it, I exclaim, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." Herein we again see another instance of God's sovereign will; for I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon; there were many Jews in Israel who were called wise men, but the star did not appear to any of them; rather it shone only on Gentile eyes, and led a chosen company from the ends of the earth to bow at Immanuel's feet.

Sovereignty in these cases clothed itself in the robes of mercy. It was a great mercy that regarded the low estate of the shepherds, and it was a far reaching mercy which gathered from lands which lay in darkness a company of men and allowed them to see God's wonderful and blessed Savior. Mercy wearing her resplendent jewels was present with divine sovereignty in the lowly abode of Bethlehem. Isn't it a delightful thought, that around the cradle of the Savior, as well as around His throne in the highest heaven, these two attributes meet? He makes himself known--and herein is mercy; but it is to those whom He has chosen--and herein He shows that He will have mercy on whom He chooses to have mercy, and He will have compassion on whom He chooses to have compassion.

We will now endeavor to learn a practical lesson from the story of the wise men who came from the east to worship Christ. We may, if God the Holy Spirit will teach us, gather such instruction as may lead us also to become worshipers of the Savior, and joyful believers in Him.

Notice, first "their inquiry;" may many of us become inquirers on the same matter--"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?" Notice, secondly, "their encouragement"--"We saw His star in the east." Because they had seen His star they felt bold enough to ask, "Where is He?" And then, thirdly, "their example"--"We have come to worship Him."

I. THEIR INQUIRY--"Where is He?"

Many things are evident in this question. It is clear that when the wise men thus inquired, there was in their minds "interest awakened." The King of the Jews was born, but Herod did not ask, "Where is He?" until his jealously was excited, and then he asked the question in a malicious spirit. Christ was born in Bethlehem, near to Jerusalem; yet throughout all the streets of the holy city there were no inquirers asking, "Where is He?" He was to be the glory of Israel, and yet in Israel there were indeed few who, like these wise men, asked the question, "Where is He?" My dear hearers, I will believe that there are some here this morning whom God intends to bless, and it will be a very hopeful sign that He intends to do so, if there any interest awakened in your mind concerning the work and person of the incarnate God. There are few who anxiously desire to know of Him. Yes! when we preach Him most earnestly, and tell of His sorrows as the One who suffered a death of torment for human sin, we are compelled to lament most bitterly over the carelessness of mankind, and mournfully ask,

"Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by;
Is it nothing to you that Jesus should die?"

He is despised and rejected by men, He has no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him; but there are a chosen number [the Elect] who inquirer diligently, and who come to receive Him; to these who believe in His name, He gives the right to become children of God. It is a happy occurrence, therefore, whenever there is interest manifested. Interest in the things of Christ is not always demonstrated, even by those who regularly attend church. It gets to be a mere mechanical habit to attend public worship; you become accustomed to sit through the various parts of the service, to stand and sing at certain time, and to listen to the preacher with an apparent attention during the sermon; but to be really interested, to long to know what it is all about, to especially know whether you have a part in it, whether Jesus came from heaven to save you, whether He was born of a virgin for you, to make such personal inquiries with deep anxiety, is far from being a general practice: I pray to God that all who have ears to hear would hear the truth of the Word of God. Whenever the Word is heard with solemn interest, it is a very encouraging sign. It was said long ago, "They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it." There is great hope for the man who listens with deep attention to the Word of God, searches God's book, and engages in thoughtful meditation with the view of understanding the gospel. When he feels that there is something weighty and important, something worth knowing, in the gospel of Jesus, then we are encouraged and hope good things about him.

But in the case of the wise men we see not only interest shown, but "outright belief." They said, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?" They were, therefore, fully convinced that He was the King of the Jews, and had recently been born. As a preacher I feel it to be a great mercy that I have to deal generally with persons who have some degree of belief concerning the things of God. I pray to God that we have more missions to those who have no sort of faith and no knowledge of Christ; and may the day come when Jesus Christ will be known everywhere. But here at home with you we have something to begin with. You do believe somewhat concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was born King of the Jews. Consider it a blessing that you have already believed some truth. I count it a great advantage to a young man that he believes the Bible to be true. There are some who have a hard fight to reach so far as that, for the sinning ways of the world has warped their minds. It is not, of course, an advantage which will save you, for many go down to hell believing the Scriptures to be true, and thus they accumulate guilt upon themselves from that very fact; but it is a great advantage to be assured that you have God's Word before you, and not to be troubled with questions about its inspiration and authenticity. O that you may go from that point of faith to another, and become a true and devoted believer in Jesus.

These wise men were men so far advanced that they had some leverage for a further lift of faith, for they believed that Christ was born, and born a King. There are many who are not saved, and yet they know that Jesus is the Son of God. Even here today are those who have no doubts about the atonement of Jesus Christ. You certainly stand in the position of highly favored persons. I only trust you may have grace given to you that you would avail yourselves of the favorable position in which God has placed you. Value what you have already received. When a blind man, whose eyes have long been closed in darkness, has an operation by an eye surgeon and is thus able to see a little light, he is very thankful for it, and hopeful that another operation may allow the full light to stream forth on the darkened eyeball. So, dear friend, be thankful for any light. O soul, so soon to pass into another world, so sure to be lost except you have the divine light, so certain to be cast into the outer darkness of hell, where there is weeping and wailing and the gnashing of teeth, be thankful for a spark of heavenly light; prize it, treasure it, be anxious about it that it may come to something more, and who knows, the Lord may bless you with the fullness of His truth?

When a great bridge was to be built over a very broad river, the challenge was to pass the first rope across the wide river. I have read that it was accomplished by flying a kite, and allowing it to fall on the opposite bank. The kite carried across a piece of string, then to the string was tied a line, and to the line a rope, and to the rope a stronger rope, and by-and-by the broad river was spanned, and the bridge was finished. In the same way God works by degrees. It is a good to see in human hearts a little interest concerning things divine, a little desire after Christ, a feeble wish to know who He is, and whether He is available to save the sinner from his judgment and torment. This hunger will lead to a craving after more, and that craving will be followed by another, till at last the soul will find her Lord and be satisfied in Him. In the wise men's case therefore we have, as I trust we have in some here, interest manifested, and a measure of outright belief.

Furthermore, in the case of the wise men, we see "ignorance admitted."

Wise men are never above asking questions, because they are wise men; so the magi asked, "Where is He?" Persons who have taken the name and degree of wise men, and are so esteemed, sometimes think it beneath them to confess any degree of ignorance, but the really wise do not think that way at all; they are too well instructed to be ignorant of their own ignorance. Many men might have been wise if they had but been aware that they were fools. The knowledge of our ignorance is the doorstep of the temple of knowledge. Some think they know, and therefore never know. Had they known that they were blind, they would soon have been made to see, but because they say, "We see," therefore their blindness remains. Beloved hearer, do you want to find a Savior? Do you desire to have all your many sins forgiven? Do you want to be reconciled to God the Father through Jesus Christ? Then don't be ashamed to ask, admit that you don't know. How would you know if heaven doesn't teach you? How would any man attain the knowledge of divine things, unless it be given to him from above? We must all be taught of the Spirit of God, or be fools forever. To know that we need to be taught of the Holy Spirit is one of the first lessons that the Holy Spirit Himself teaches us. Admit that you need a guide, and diligently ask for one. Cry out to God to lead you, and He will be your instructor. Do not be proud and self-sufficient. Ask for heavenly light, and you will receive it. Isn't it better to ask God to teach you, than to trust you own unaided reason? Bow, then, the knee, confess your aptness to error, and say, "What I don't know, please teach me."

Notice, however, that the wise men were not content with admitting their ignorance, but in their case they "craved information."

I cannot tell where they began to ask. They thought it likeliest that Jesus would be known in the most important city. Wasn't He the King of the Jews? Wouldn't He be certain to be known in the Capital? They went, therefore, to Jerusalem. Perhaps they asked the guards at the gate, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?" Truly the guards laughed and scorn them replying, "We know of no king but Herod." Then they met a drunkard in the streets, and said to him, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?" and he answered, "What do I care about such a crazy question? I am looking for another drink." They asked a merchant, but he sneered, and said, "Never mind kings, what will you buy today?" "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?" they said to the Sadducee, the religious leader, and he replied, "Don't be so foolish as to talk in that way, or if you do, go call on my religious friend the Pharisee." They passed a woman in the streets, and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?" but she said, "My child is sick at home, I have enough to do to think of my poor baby; I don't care who is born, or who may die." Even though they couldn't find the answers to their questions, they were not content until they had learned all that could be known. They did not know at first where the newborn King was, but they used every means to find Him, and asked everyone they could think of for information. It is delightful to see the holy eagerness of a soul which God has aroused; it cries, "I must be saved; I know something of the way of salvation, I am grateful for that, but I don't know all I want to know, and I can't rest until I do. If beneath the canopy of heaven a Savior is to be found, then I will find Him; if the Bible can teach me how to be saved, I will turn its pages day and night; I will go without sleep if in the reading of that book I may find Christ my Savior. If there is one whose preaching has been blessed to the souls of others, then I will hang on his lips, if perhaps the Word may be blessed to me, for I must have Christ: it is not I may or I may not have Him, but I `must' have Him; my hunger is great for this bread of heaven, my thirst unquenchable for this Water of Life; tell me, Christians, tell me, wise men, tell me, good men, tell me of any of you who can tell, Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? For I must have Christ, and I long to have him now."

Notice further, that in reference to these wise men from the east, there was for their search after Christ "a declared motive."

"Where is He," they said, "We have come to worship him!" Oh, dear soul, if you seek for Christ, let it be your motive that you will be saved by Him, and that henceforth and forever you may live to His glory. When it comes to this, that you don't listen to the gospel merely as a habit, but because you long to receive its promised salvation, it will not be long before you will find it. When a man says, I am going to church today to hear the Word of God preached, and my heart's desire is that God will grant me His salvation," then he will not go there in vain. When a hearer can declare, "As soon as I take my seat in the congregation, my one thought is, "Lord, bless my soul this day?" he won't be disappointed.

Usually in going to church we get what we came for. Some come because it is a habit, some to meet a friend, some don't even know why; but when you know what you come for, the Lord who gave you the desire will gratify it. I was pleased with the word of a dear sister this morning when I came in the church; she said to me, "My dear sir, my soul is very hungry this morning. May the Lord give you bread for me." I believe that food is being given to her. When a sinner is very hungry for Christ, Christ is very near to him. The worst of it is, many of you don't come to find Jesus, it is not Him you are seeking for; if you were seeking for Him, He would soon appear to you. A young woman was asked during a revival, "How is it that you have not found Christ?" "Sir," she said, "I think it is because I have not been looking for Him." It is true. None will be able to say in the end, if I haven't found Jesus, it must be because He has not been devoutly, earnestly, relentlessly sought, for His promise is, "Seek, and you will find." These wise men are to us a model in many things--their motive was clear to them, and they frankly acknowledged it to others. May all of us seek Jesus that we may worship Him.

Continuously there was an intense earnestness displayed by the wise men, which we would delight to see in any who as yet have not believed in Jesus. Evidently they were not just curiosity seekers. They came a long way, they suffered a lot of fatigue, they spoke about finding the newborn King in a practical, common sense way; they were not put off with this rebuff or that; they desired to find Him, and they would find Him. It is most blessed to see the work of the Spirit in men's heart motivating them to long for the Savior to be their Lord and King; and to so long for Him that they will not accept defeat, thus they will leave no stone unturned, but by the Holy Spirit's help, they will be able to eventually say, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus, and He has become our salvation."

Am I at this moment speaking to anybody in particular? I trust I am. Some years ago there was a young man, who, on a morning much like the one today--cold, snowy, dark--entered a church, as you have done today. I thought as I came here, this morning, of that young man. I said to myself, "This morning is so very forbidding that I will have a very small congregation, but perhaps among them there will be one like that young man." To be plain to you, it comforted me to think that the morning when God blessed my soul with His saving grace, the preacher had a very small congregation, and it was very cold and bitter, and therefore I said to myself this morning, "Why shouldn't I go merrily to my task, and preach if there should only be a dozen there?" for Jesus may intend to reveal Himself to someone as He did to me, and that someone may be a soul winner, and the means of the salvation of tens of thousands in years to come. I wonder if that will occur to that young man over there, for I trust he has the searching heart of the wise men on his lips. I trust he will not quench those desires which now burn within him, but rather may the spark be fanned into a flame, and may this day witness his decision for Jesus. Oh, has the Lord looked on that young woman, or on that dear child, or on that elderly man over there? I don't know who it may be, but I will indeed bless God this morning, if the cry from many lips this morning is, "Sir, what must I do to be saved? Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?"

II. Having spoken of their inquiry, I will now notice THEIR ENCOURAGEMENT. Something encouraged these wise men to seek Jesus. It was this, "We saw His star."

Now, most of you who seek after Christ have a great encouragement in the fact that you have heard His gospel; you live in a land where you have the Scriptures, where Baptisms and the celebration of the Lord's Supper is freely accomplished. These are, as it were, Jesus Christ's star; they are meant to lead you to Him. Here, observe, that to see His star was a "great favor." It was not given to all the dwellers in the east or west to see His star. These men, therefore, were highly privileged. It is not given to all mankind to hear the gospel, Jesus is not preached in all of our churches; His cross is not lifted high even in every place that is dedicated to His worship. You are highly favored, O my friend, if you have seen the star, the gospel, which points to Jesus.

To see the star involved these wise men in "great responsibility." For, suppose they had seen His star and had not set out to worship Him, they would have been far more guilty than others, who, not having received such an indication from heaven, would not have been able to seek after it at all. Oh, think of the responsibility of some of you, who in your childhood heard of a Savior, for whom a mother has wept many tears; you know the truth, at least in theory; you have the responsibility of having seen His star.

The wise men "did not regard the favor of seeing the star as a matter to be content with." They did not say, "We have seen His star, and that is enough." Man says, "Well, we attend a place of worship regularly, isn't that enough?" There are those who say, "We were baptized, I am saved by baptism; we come to the Lord's Supper, and don't I get saving grace through it?" Poor souls! they mistake the star which leads wise people to Christ, as Christ Himself, and worship the star instead of the Lord. O may none of you ever be so foolish as to believe that Baptism or Communion saves you! God will say to you, if you depend on Baptism or the Lord's Supper or on going to church, "Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?" What does God care about outward forms and ceremonies?

When I see men putting on gowns and vestments, and scarves and bands, and singing their prayers, and bowing and genuflecting, I wonder what sort of God it is that they worship. Surely he must have more affinity with the gods of the heathen than with the great Jehovah who has made the heavens and the earth. Mark well the exceeding glory of Jehovah's works on the land and the sea; behold the heavens and their countless hosts of stars, listen to the howling of the winds and the rush of the hurricane, think of Him who makes the clouds His chariot, and rides on the wings of the wind, and then consider whether this infinite God is like that being to whom it is a matter of grave consequence whether a cup of wine is lifted in worship as high as a man's hair or only as high as his nose! O foolish generation, to think that Jehovah is contained in your tabernacle made with hands, and that He cares for your vestments, your processions, your postures, and your genuflections. You fight over your ritual, even to the crossing of a "t" and the dotting of an "i". Surely you don't know the glorious Jehovah, if you conceive that these things yield any pleasure to Him. No, beloved, we desire to worship the Most High in all simplicity and earnest of spirit, and never to stop with the outward form, lest we be foolish enough to think that to see the star is sufficient, and therefore fail to find the incarnate God.

Note well, that these wise men "did not find satisfaction in what they had themselves done to reach the child." As we have observed, they may have come hundreds of miles, but they did not mention it; they did not sit down and say, "Well, we have journeyed across deserts, over hills, and across rivers, and now we are done." No, they must find the newborn King, nothing else would satisfy them. Do not say, dear hearer, "I have been praying now for months, I have been searching the Scriptures for weeks, to find the Savior." I am glad you have done so, but do not rest in it; you must get Christ, or else you will still perish in absolute torment after all your exertion and your trouble. You want Jesus, nothing more than Jesus, and nothing less than Jesus. Nor must you be satisfied with traveling in the way the star would lead you, you must reach HIM. Don't stop short of eternal life. Grab hold of it, don't merely seek for it and long for it, but grab hold of eternal life, and do not be content until it is an established fact with you that Jesus Christ is yours.

I would like you to notice how these wise men were not satisfied with merely getting to Jerusalem. They might have said, "Ah! Now we are in the land where the Child is born, we will be thankful and sit down." No, rather they ask, "Where is He?" He is born in Bethlehem. Well, they go to Bethlehem, but we don't find that when they reached that village they said, "This is a good spot, we will sit down here." Not at all, they wanted to know where the house was. They reached the house, and the star stopped over it. It was a awesome sight to see the cottage with the star above it, and to think that the newborn King was there, but that did not satisfy them. No, they went right into the house; they did not rest till they saw the Child Himself, and had worshipped Him. I pray that you and I may always be so led by the Spirit of God that we may never put up with anything short of a real comprehension of Christ as a Savior, as our Savior, as our Savior even now.

If there is one danger above another that the young seeker should strive against, it is the danger of stopping short of a unrestrained faith in Jesus Christ. While your heart is tender like wax, be careful that no seal but the seal of Christ is pressed on it. Now that you are uneasy and under conviction, make this your vow, "I will not be comforted until Jesus comforts me with His great salvation." It would be better for you never to be awakened than to be lulled to sleep by Satan--for a sleep that follows a partial conviction is generally a deeper slumber than any other that falls on the sons of men. Dear soul, I charge you to get the Blood of Christ, and be washed in it; find the life of Christ, and let that life be in you, that you would indeed become God's child; don't put up with suppositions, don't be satisfied with appearances and maybes; don't rest anywhere until you have said--God having given you the faith to say it, "He loved me and gave Himself for me, He is my complete salvation and all my desire." See, then, how these wise men were not kept away from Christ by the star, but they were encouraged by it to come to Christ, and you be encouraged too, dear seeker, this morning to come to Jesus by the fact that you are blessed with the gospel. You have an invitation given to you to come to Jesus, you have the movements of God's Spirit on your conscience, awakening you; O come, come and welcome, and let this dark winter's day be a day of brightness and of gladness to many a seeking soul.

I have turned my thoughts on this last part into verse, and I will repeat the lines,

O where is Christ my King?
I long for the sight, I would fall to my knees worshipping,
For He's my soul's delight.

Himself, Himself alone,
I seek no less, no more,
Or on His cross, or on His throne,
I'd equally adore.

The wise men saw His star,
But would not be content,
The way was rough, the distance far,
Yet on that way they went,

And now my thoughts discern,
The sign that Christ is near,
With unquenchable love I burn,
To enjoy His company.

No star nor heavenly sign,
My soul's desire can fill,
For Him, my Lord, my King divine,
my soul is thirsting still.

III. And now we will conclude, by considering THE EXAMPLE of these wise men.

They came to Jesus, and in so doing, they did three things: they saw, they worshipped, they gave. Those are three things which every believer here may do this morning over again, and which every seeker should do for the first time.

First "they saw" the young Child.

I don't think they merely said, "There He is," and so ended the matter, but they stood still and looked. Perhaps for some time they did not speak. I would imagine that around the face of the infant Jesus was a supernatural beauty. Whether there was a beauty to everyone's eye I don't know, but to theirs there was assuredly a superhuman attraction. The incarnate God! They gazed with all their eyes. They looked, and looked, and looked again. They glanced at His mother, but they fixed their eyes on Him. "They saw the Child."

So, too, this morning let us think of Jesus with fixed and continuous thought. He is God, He is man, He is the substitute for sinners; He is willing to receive all who trust Him. He will save, and save this morning, everyone of us who will put their faith and trust in Him. Think of Him. If you are at home this afternoon, spend the time in thinking of Him. Bring Him before your mind's eye, consider and admire Him. Is it not a wonder that God would enter into union with man and come to this world as an infant? He who made heaven and earth nurses on a woman's breast for us! For our redemption the Word was made flesh. This truth will breed the brightest hope within your soul. If you follow that baby's wondrous life till it ends at the cross, I trust you may there be able to give such a look at Him that, like as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, and they that looked were healed, so you looking may be healed of all your spiritual diseases. Though it has been many years since I first looked at Him, I desire to look to Jesus again. The incarnate God! My eyes swim with tears to think that He who might have crushed me into hell forever, becomes a young child for my sake! Look at Him, all of you, and looking--then worship.

What did the wise men do next? They "worshipped" Him.

We cannot properly worship a Christ we do not know. "To the unknown God" is poor worship. But, oh, when you think of Jesus Christ, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times, the eternal Son of the Father, and then see Him coming here to be a man formed in the womb of a woman, and know and understand why He came and what He did when he came, then you will fall down and worship Him. "

Son of God, to You we bow,
You are Lord, and only You;
You the woman's promised seed;
You who did for sinners bleed."

We worship Jesus. Our faith sees Him go from the manger to the cross, and from the cross right up to the throne, and there where God the Father dwells, amidst the unendurable glory of the divine presence stands the man, the very man who slept at Bethlehem in the manger; there He reigns as Lord of lords. Our souls worship Him again. You are our Prophet, every Word You speak, Jesus, we believe and desire to follow: You are our priest, Your sacrifice has made us clean, we are washed in Your Blood; You are our King, command, and we will obey, lead on, and we will follow: We worship You. We should spend a lot of time in worshipping the Christ, and He should always have the highest place in our reverence.

After worshipping, the wise men presented "their gifts."

One opened his box of gold, and laid it at the feet of the newborn King. Another presented frankincense--one of the precious products of the country from which they came; and another laid myrrh at the Redeemer's feet; all these they gave to prove the truth of their worship. They gave substantial offerings. And now, after you have worshipped Christ in your soul, and seen Him with the eye of faith, give Him yourself, give Him your heart, give Him all that you are and own. Why, you will not be able to keep from doing it. He who really loves the Savior in his heart, cannot help devoting to Him his life, his strength, his all. With some people, when they give Christ anything, or do anything for Him, it is very difficult and somewhat forced. They say, "The love of Christ ought to compel us." I don't know of any such text as that in the Bible, however, I do remember one text that says, "Christ's love compels us." If it does not compel us, it is because it is not in us. It is not merely a thing which ought to be, it must be. If any man loves Christ, he will soon be finding ways and means of proving his love by his sacrifices. Go home, Mary, and get the alabaster box, and poor the ointment on His head, and if any say, "Why this waste?" you will have a good answer, you have had many sins forgiven by Him, and therefore you love Him greatly. If you have gold, then give it; if you have frankincense, then give it; if you have myrrh, then give it to Jesus; if you don't have any of these things, give Him your love, all of your love, and that will be gold and spices all in one; give Him your tongue, speak of Him; give Him your hands, work for Him; give Him your whole self. I know you will, for He loved you, and gave Himself for you. The Lord bless you, and may this Christmas morning be a very memorable day to many of you assembled here today. I am surprised to see so vast a number present, and I can only hope the blessing will be in proportion, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Spurgeon Collection" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 119
Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
Our websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986