Matthew 2:9 – When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

Matthew 2:10 – When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

Matthew 2:11 – 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 their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:12 – And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Hello readers, be my guiding star. No this is not horoscopes, star signs or romantic lyrics… this is a blog about the star that lead the wise men to Jesus Christ. The true guiding star folks. The wise men followed God’s star all the way to the manger of the baby Jesus Christ. Long journey. Pretty stupid journey one might have thought. To embark on a journey following a star in the sky. This world will call you stupid for believing God’s word and obeying it. That same world which will never find a place of worship and praise at the cradle of the Saviour of the world. You’re not stupid following the star of God’s word as we shall see. I’ve done a blog before on this part of the Bible, but I want to revisit it again today and perhaps from a slightly new angle. God’s word is new every day. And God’s word is a lot more than a cool story.

Today I want to talk about our guiding star. We need a guiding star. Many people have a guiding star, but it’s not God’s guiding star. They’re guided by all sorts of things, but never to saving faith in Jesus Christ. This world can’t guide you to God, to fulfillment, to purpose, to true hope, to true faith, to eternal life. This star in Matthew 2 was God’s star, it was Christ’s star. It wasn’t any old star. The Bible says in Numbers 24:17 that there shall come a Star out of Jacob. Well that was an Old Testament prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ. Perhaps these wise men had read Balaam’s prophecy, one of the many prophesies of a coming Messiah and Saviour sent by God… and one day they saw the star. There shall come a Star out of Jacob… and one day a star out of Jacob guided them to the very promised Star of Jacob. It’s a pretty damning indictment that they were looking for the star, and they found Jesus Christ, while the rest of Israel did not.

Jesus is that star, he is the bright and morning star of Revelation, the day star of 2 Peter, the Sun of righteousness arising with healing in his wings of Malachi. See, God hasn’t just abandoned us to find our own way in life. He’s hasn’t left us to figure it out ourselves, though that’s what many of us want to do in going our own way. God has given us a guiding star for life’s journey in this dark world. Today we are going to look to see that this guiding star is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the word of God, and the work of the Holy Spirit through the word of God.

When the night comes, there are stars in the sky. The heavens declare the glory of God the Bible says and it surely does. Go and look out at the stars in the night sky. It’s majestic, magnificent, awesome. You can’t even begin to comprehend it and take it all in. How can you look at the moon and stars and not know that there is a Creator. How can your heart not stir upon looking at the glory of God in his creation. Stars have been worshiped as gods, because Satan always tries perverting the meaning, order and purpose of God… and people instead of giving glory to the God who created the stars, they instead worship the stars.

Stars are very informative. Sailors used to navigate by the stars, and in this story here the wise men followed a star that lead them to Jesus Christ. The star lead them to he of whom it was written. This was the one the world was waiting for. The long awaited Messiah and Saviour and King. You and I are living in a world that is as dark as the night they navigated land and sea by. In this dark world, we need light. Without light we cannot see anything, we don’t know where to go and we can’t see where we are going. How can we make it to journey’s destination without a light to guide us. Remember the ships of old, they’d rely on lighthouses on the shoreline to show them safe passage. This world is in darkness, that is it’s spiritual state. We need light to navigate this darkness. If you are in darkness today, the word of God is what is being extending to you right now, the word of God is being extended to you in the gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s word can be your guiding star for life’s long journey. In fact it is the only guiding star. While there are many stars, there is only one capital “S” Star.

See, God’s given us a light to guide us to someone, and that someone is Jesus Christ. Jesus was God’s gift to mankind, God’s provision. Why do you think Jesus called himself the bread of heaven. Everything God has revealed to man is centered on his Son Jesus Christ. God’s word, the Holy Bible, it’s the star twinkling in this world, and anyone may follow it’s light to the manger. It will lead you to your Saviour, your God, your King, your Lord, your forgiveness, your eternal life. God points humanity to his Son Jesus Christ, because he is who our entire existence relies upon. Your salvation, forgiveness, fulfillment, purpose, life, light, happiness, joy, future… everything… it’s bound up in him.

All who are reading this blog are on a journey in life. We’re on a journey. That journey starts out in the east. The east was a place of departure from God. But in our lost state, a light sent by God, guides us back to himself. The man or woman who gets saved is wise like those wise men. Why do you think the Bible calls them wise? Well what they did showed they had wisdom. You’ll be wise in getting saved. A fool rejects God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life through his Son. A fool rejects, scoffs, scorns and turns away from the shining light. That light was an invitation to come, the gospel is an invitation to come for us lost sinners.

You know when you tell someone the gospel, you’re a shining light. That star can shine through your life, but it’s only possible when the star has first risen in your own heart… that is to say, you’ve been saved yourself. But maybe you’re not wise like these wise men. Why not? Because you’ve forsaken the truth, you’ve rejected Jesus Christ. These wise men were indeed wise because they followed the star, they followed the light, and you will only be wise when you decide to trust and obey the word of God.

I’m sure there were many lights in that night sky, but those wise men followed a particular star. There’s many stars you shouldn’t follow. The world today calls many people stars and superstars. And we like to follow and praise and worship stars, but those stars can’t save you, they can’t deliver you, they won’t be there for you when you need them, and they sure can’t lead you to God. God’s Star stands alone. I was reading my Bible today where God says there is none like unto me. God’s star is distinct from every other star, just as Jesus was the true Light the Bible says. True, because there are many false lights which are out there. We should follow the word of God rather than these. This was a consistent, reliable, exceptional, faithful star. God’s word  is all of those things. God’s word, like that star, will lead you to Jesus Christ.

If you need guidance, if you are searching for guidance, if you are searching for your guiding star… you have God’s word. Do you want the word of God?. Get in God’s word. It’s a sure light. It’s a faithful light. It’s a true light. It’ll give direction and destination. You may be in darkness today, but God’s got a light that’s shining brightly in the night sky of your sinful, unbelieving, Christ rejecting life. The star is bidding you come. Jesus Christ was born to die for you so that you may live. That’s the light that shining in your night sky reader.

Whenever we get lost, when we get distracted, when we go left and right off the light’s path… that light is still there. You know, these wise men made a stop off at Herod’s palace. In times we live in there’s a great truth in here. The solution to our lives is not in human government, the solution is in Jesus Christ. They’re looking for the king of the Jews, and all they find is Herod… a wicked man, who is a picture of Satan. You know, on your journey in the star’s light, there’s going to be an enemy. There’s going to be lies and deceit to deal with. So often we go seeking Jesus Christ in the wrong place, he wasn’t in Herod’s palace. So often we get sidetracked on our journey, so often we need to get back to the guiding star.

When they left Herod, the star was there to keep on guiding them. Herod’s not going to take you to Christ, religion isn’t, nothing is, God’s word and the Holy Spirit is who takes you to Jesus Christ. The problem with Christianity today is God’s word and the Holy Spirit is missing. If someone truly get saved, they don’t need someone herding them and driving them to do right and live right. If the Holy Spirit is in you, he’ll teach you, he’ll guide you to journey’s end. So often we make stops on our journey. We were following the star, but now we are in Herod’s palace. We’re being entertained by an enemy of God’s word, an enemy of Christ. Herod wanted to kill Jesus. So often we don’t make it to the manger because we’ve made a stop in the palace, we’ve been deceived, sucked in by lies, we’re looking in the wrong places, and we’re in the wrong place in our life. Get back to following the guiding star of God’s word.

Where are we going in life? Where do we head? What direction do we take? Do you need a guiding star? You know, that the star was heavenly light. See we’re not just following any old light, we have heavens light. What could be better than having heavenly light for our earthly journey? Stars are heavenly lights. God’s word is heavenly light. It’s the word of God… not of man. Jesus said in John 7:16 – Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. Jesus came from heaven with his Father’s word, he wasn’t like any other man, that’s why they said… never spake man like this man.

If you want divine guidance and direction look to God’s word. This star is a picture of God’s word. The Holy Spirit will honour the word of God, he’ll lead you in accordance with God’s word. Maybe you don’t want guidance and direction from God though, because you want to run your own life, you prefer the darkness, you prefer it out there in the darkness of the east, a place of separation and alienation from God.

The journey of faith in God’s word has a destination. So many people have no destination in life. They’re like the Bible says… wandering stars. This world wanders around, they don’t know where they’re going. They’re not prepared for life beyond this life. They have no certainty beyond the moment of time they are in now. There’s no sure journey, instead there’s aimless wandering in the darkness. When you get in God’s word, you have a destination. You’re being guided to Jesus Christ, you’re being guided to truth, to salvation… just as these men were. If you want to find Jesus Christ, get in God’s word, the Holy Spirit will lead you to the Saviour… every book will take you there.

You know, that star spoke to them. It was a fulfillment of God’s word, it bore witness to the truth and prophetic power of God’s word. This was the long prophesied star, pointing to the long prophesied Saviour. God’s word will speak to you today. It bid them come to Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t enough to see the star or hear it’s speech, they had to obey it, they had to follow it and keep following it. The problem with many people is that it’s not they don’t have light, it’s they don’t want the light. That’s the truth.

God’s word takes us to salvation. It takes us to Christ. At the manger there was a newly born babe. There must be a new birth in our lives. Christ must be born in us. Without that in place, without being born again, there is no salvation. Note how there weren’t many there. Few follow that guiding star, God’s word lights a road less travelled. Without God’s word, without being born again, without the revelation of Jesus Christ to you… there will be no praise and worship. Because at the manger was that place of praise, worship and thanksgiving. You can’t have this without God’s word. So many people think they worship, but they’ve never truly worshiped God. They’ve had no guiding star. There’s been no journey of faith in God’s word to Jesus Christ, there’s been no realization of who he is and there’s no true praise and worship.

There’s another wonderful truth in here, and that is that after the wise men came to the manger and worshipped Jesus Christ and gave their gifts to him… the Bible says they departed into their own country another way. They didn’t leave the way they came in. What does this tell us? This tells us that God will change your life reader. You may come to him one way, but you’ll leave another way. When you’ve truly come to Jesus Christ, you won’t be the same person anymore. You’ll leave Christ a totally different way in life. The Bible says in 2 Peter that the day star arises in our hearts, because once saved, once right with God yourself, that light is in you, Jesus Christ in you will be a light to others, and you can shine as a star for Christ. If you’ve got God’s word, you can be a guiding star to someone else, pointing them to Bethlehem, pointing them to the bread of heaven for any faint and weary and tired traveler of life.

Today we have seen that there’s a journey, there’s an enemy, there’s a Bible crowd who doesn’t know Jesus  Christ like all those experts didn’t… if they knew the Bible why weren’t they seeking? There’s a birth, and there’s place of praise and worship. There’s a light, there’s a destination. There was joy when they saw that star. Does God’s word bring you joy? A true believer will rejoice in the truth, they’ll rejoice in the light. Maybe there’s no rejoicing in the truth because you’re not truly right with God. You’ve never come to the manger, you’ve never come to Christ. You’ve never worshiped and praised and thanked him for all he’s done for you. You know, Jesus was a baby there, and Jesus might seem insignificant to you on the radar of your life… but he’s going to get a whole lot bigger on your radar when he returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus was born into this world to save us from our sins, and it’s a wise person who comes seeking the salvation he offers. You are without excuse, the light is shining, God’s word… that sure, faithful, true and guiding star is twinkling in your night sky bidding you… will you come?

Revelation 22:17 – And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

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