The Far-off, Near–the Near, Far Off

The Far-off, Near–the Near, Far Off

(No. 2325)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1893.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 11, 1889.

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the
King, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying,
Where is He 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 had
heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And
when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people
together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born." Matthew
2:1-4.

I AM not going to expound the whole passage that I have read as a text,
but I desire to help you to gather some lessons from this familiar
narrative.

"When Jesus was born." A stir begins as soon as Christ is born. He has
not spoken a word. He has not worked a miracle. He has not proclaimed a
single doctrine, but, "when Jesus was born," at the very first, while
as yet you hear nothing but infant cries and can see nothing but infant
weakness, still His influence upon the world is manifest. "When Jesus
was born, there came wise men from the East," and so on. There is
Infinite Power even in an Infant Savior! When Jesus is born in the
heart and there are only the feeblest impulses towards righteousness
and repentance with regard to sin, He makes a stir in our whole nature.
The most distant faculty feels that something wonderful has happened.
When Christ is formed in us, the hope of Glory, a sacred revolution
commences within us! When Christ is born in a village, a town, a
city–the first sinner converted, the first open-air sermon
preached–the first giving away of sacred literature makes a stir! It
is wonderful how soon it begins to manifest itself. Somebody or other
is affected by the fact that Christ has come! He cannot be hid! The
first match struck makes a great blaze. Jesus of Nazareth is so potent
a factor in the world of mind that, no sooner is He there in His utmost
weakness, a new-born King, than He begins to reign!

Before He mounts the Throne, friends bring Him presents and His enemies
plan His death. Oh, that the Lord Jesus might be here, tonight, if it
is but as new born, in some few hearts! There will be a result from
Christ's coming, even though I preach Him very feebly–though you may
say that I can only bring to you an Infant Christ–though my power of
speech may fail me and I may but set Him forth in His littleness rather
than in His greatness. When Christ is born, when Christ is only feebly
preached, when Christ is but stammered out, a great result comes of it
and His name is made glorious! [AMEN!]

There were two results from Christ's coming, as there always will be,
for this Child is not only a Savior to some, but also a stumbling block
to others. His Gospel is either, "a savor of life unto life," or else,
"a savor of death unto death." I want you, first, to notice the note of
exclamation that we have in the first verse. "When Jesus was born,
behold.''" Ecce! Behold! There is something to look at, something good
that is worth gazing upon. Behold it! Here are far-off persons who come
very near. Wise men from the East come and worship the Infant Christ!
But there is something to which there is no "behold" put, yet it is
sorrowfully worth considering. Here are near ones who are
far-off–Herod, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the chief priests and the
scribes. They are as far from Christ as if He had been born in the
distant East, while they who lived in the far country came as near to
Him as if they, themselves, had dwelt at Bethlehem! So I have these two
things to talk about, tonight–first, the extraordinary fact that many
far-off ones are brought near, and the sad but almost equally
extraordinary fact that many who are apparently very near never really
come near to Jesus.

I. To begin, then, at the beginning. THERE ARE FAR-OFF ONES BROUGHT
NEAR. God saves whom He wills to save. His Grace is most sovereign. You
cannot see, as I do, so many persons brought to Christ without often
wondering why they were brought. I have often seen the last first and
the first last–people of whose conversion I would hardly have dreamed
become converted, while other persons, for whom I have hoped and over
whom I have prayed, remain unconverted! It is very delightful, as well
as very amazing, to notice the strange way in which the Grace of God
singles out men, and the marvelous measures which the God of Grace uses
to bring these men to the feet of Jesus.

Well now, first, these people were wise men, magi, students of
astronomy, learned in the lore of the ancients. Their philosophy was
not a very true one–it was about as true as modern philosophy–which
is not saying much. They believed very absurd things, these magi,
almost as absurd as the scientists of the present day, perhaps not
quite as ridiculous, for science has grown in absurdity, especially of
late–but these men were professors of the philosophy of the period.
They were the wise men. If they came from Media, they were probably
fire-worshippers, or worshippers of the elements of nature. Theirs was
a refined form of idolatry which is not to be excused, but still, if
there can be any choice where all is bad, it is perhaps a little better
than some others. They were very great students so far as their light
went– they sought after knowledge and wisdom.

Well now, truth to tell, it is not many of this sort of people who come
to Christ! His Doctrine is too simple for them. He lays the axe too
near the root of the tree. His teaching is too plain. They are so wise
that His wisdom baffles them! They know so much, as they think, yet His
better and higher knowledge overshadows theirs and they cannot stand it
and will not yield to Him. "Not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called." But here the Infinite Sovereignty
of God calls these wise men first! No, I must not say first, for the
shepherds came first–but next to the shepherds, the Lord calls these
wise men from the distant East. It has been truly remarked that the
shepherds did not miss their way–they came to Christ at once, while
the wise men, even with a star to guide them, yet missed their way and
went to Jerusalem instead of to Bethlehem–and enquired at the palace
of Herod instead of at the stable where the Christ was born. However,
they did come to Christ, even if they did come in a roundabout way and
make a blunder or two!

Here was the wonder, that they did come, and if I address myself,
tonight, as I would do most respectfully, to any here who excel in
human wisdom, how I wish they would join Divinity to their humanities!
And if they know much, yet I long that with all their knowledge they
would know Christ–and with all their getting that they would get
understanding, for the science of Christ Crucified is the most
excellent of all the sciences! It is the central one round which every
true science will revolve in its proper place. And happy is the man
whose solar system of knowledge has Christ in the very center of it.
Still, if it is so, I shall not cease to wonder and bless God that He
has, again, brought wise men, like Saul of Tarsus, and like these wise
men from the East, to worship this new-born Savior!

Notice, also, that these men were not only wise men, which is one cause
of our wonder that they sought Christ, but they lived far away in the
East. We do not know the distance they had traveled, but it does not
matter–it was a long way and probably a very difficult journey–in
those days, at any rate. It did not seem likely, when this Child was
born at Bethlehem, that worshippers should come outside of Judea, or
that they should come from distant regions unknown to the Jews,
themselves, yet God, in His mercy, called these men from the farthest
East. Oh, that His love would light on some, tonight, who are strangers
and foreigners, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, perhaps without
God and without hope in the world! May His Grace call such! What a mass
of people we are, and what odd people there must be here, whom none of
us could describe!

After this morning's sermon, [Sermon #2099, Volume 35–Concerning the
Consolations of God.] somebody told me that, had I known the story of
one of my hearers, I would not have dared to describe him as correctly
as I did. Happily I did not know that hearer–I am glad that I did
not–my message should come all the more distinctly as a voice from God
to him because it did so accurately describe him! But I will breathe
this prayer, that somebody here, who is a stranger, even, to the very
form of religion, someone who has never been in this house before, or
in any other place of Christian worship, may be called by the mighty
voice of God, attracted by the irresistible charms of Christ and may
come and believe in the Incarnate God who took our flesh at Bethlehem,
that He might bear our sin and bear us up to the Throne of God with
Himself! Here was the double wonder, then, about the magi coming to
Christ–they were unlikely men from an unlikely place. As we think of
them, we are constrained to say, as we have often sung–

"How sweet and awful is the place, With Christ within the doors, While
everlasting love displays The choicest of her stores.

Pity the nations, O our God! Constrain the earth to come! Send Your
victorious Word abroad, And bring the strangers home."

And they were singularly guided, were they not? They were watching the
midnight skies and they spied a strange star. According to astronomers,
there was probably a conjunction of two planets about that date. When
two planets were in conjunction in 1640, or about that date, it was
said that such a conjunction must have taken place at about the time
when Christ was born and that the wise men may have thought it was a
new star. I do not, however, think that that can have been the case. It
was probably not simply a star, but a marked appearance which moved
through the heavens. Well now, it was a strange thing that they should
see this star and more strange, still, that seeing it, they should put
this and that together, and by their astrology, for, perhaps, it was
nothing better, infer that some wondrous personage was born away there
in Judea and they must needs go forth to find Him. They may have heard
of the famous prophecy of Balaam; there might have been traditions in
their country that the Coming Man was to be born in Judea. All that may
have been, I do not know, but this I know–God miraculously sent this
star. If men are not to be reached in any ordinary way, God's elect
shall be brought to Him in an extraordinary way! If they are given to
the study of the stars, God will write in that illuminated book which
they are accustomed to read and they shall there see a new letter and
learn something fresh concerning His will!

I have known the Lord meet with men in the midst of evil, in the very
act of sin. We have known men struck down by the most amazing accidents
and the most extraordinary chain of circumstances, men whom it seemed
impossible to reach. Beloved, no man is beyond the reach of God! He has
ways and means of enlightening the understanding, awakening the
conscience and renewing the heart, of which we know but little.
"Remember that Omnipotence has servants every-where"–in the Heaven
above and in the earth beneath–and in the waters under the earth! He
has means of getting at the hearts of men and He will do it. If it
cannot be done anyway else, He will make new stars. I was about to say,
He will make new heavens and a new earth, but He will call His own.
When Christ is born, the wise men from the East must come, and a star
shall be sent to guide them. Perhaps, by some remarkable circumstances,
you, my Friend, are here tonight. It was very unlikely that you should
be here, but you have come into the Tabernacle that the Grace of God
may arrest you, that the hand of Eternal Love may be laid upon your
shoulder and that you may be taken prisoner for Christ, henceforth to
be His servant and His, alone!

It is worth noticing, again, that these men earnestly enquired. Having
once seen the star, they hurried off, no matter how long the journey,
to find the new-born King, and they asked everybody to tell them the
way to Him. They even went to the court of Herod to ask the way to find
Christ! A man must have a deal of curiosity when he puts his head
between the jaws of such a lion as Herod in order to find what he wants
to know! I wish that God would stir up that kind of curiosity and
enquiry in many men's minds. The general way, now, is to put off the
Truth of God with a huff, to suppose that it is not worth looking into.
But the claims of the eternal Son of God, the claims of His Grace and
of His Throne ought not to be treated so. May God give back to the
people a spirit of enquiry into the things of God, so that they may not
be as indifferent as the masses of our fellow citizens now are! May
they begin to question and say, "Which is the way to Heaven? Who is
this Christ? What is the plan of salvation?" If it is so, we shall soon
have cause enough for joy and we shall praise the Sovereign Grace of
God!

Being enquirers, these men were singularly unprejudiced. They said,
"Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" "Jews?" Who cared for
Jews? Even in those days, Jews were the subject of contempt, for they
had aforetime been carried captive into the East. Although they are the
very aristocracy of God, His chosen people, yet the nations looked down
upon the Jews. Judah was a little paltry territory, insignificant and
small, and many asked with Sanballat, "What are these feeble Jews?" But
here are men from a great empire, like Persia or Media, asking about
the King of the Jews! Surely there are still some candid men about,
some who will enquire after Christ, even though they have to ask of
Methodists, and Baptists, and the like! Oh, that men could break
through the foolish shell of prejudice to enquire if these things are,
indeed, so! The time was when the very word, "Evangelical," had a kind
of contempt affixed to it. I am not sure that that time has quite yet
passed. Yet, whatever others may say or do, let none of us be swayed by
prejudice or disdain, but let us search and see whether these things
are so.

And note again, that these men, being candid enquirers, were
wonderfully prompt–"When Jesus was born, there came wise men from the
East." Well now, I think that it would naturally strike you that if a
man were born a king, there would be time enough to pay him homage when
he grew up! To bring gold and frankincense, and myrrh, to a baby, does
not always commend itself to wise men! Let us see the child become a
youth and the youth become a man–then we may take this long journey to
find His Royal Highness. But, no, when the King was born, the wise men
came to Him! They must have started to find Him long before. I would
that the Lord might put into the hearts of men, today, something like
this energy and promptness about Divine things! If God was really
Incarnate. If He did come here in human form, oh, come, let us go and
find Him! Let us bow at His shrine and worship at His feet! Did He
really die and die for guilty men? Did He, in their place, bear the
penalty of their sin? Come, let us seek this "Lamb of God, which takes
away the sin of the world," and let us seek Him before another sun has
risen!

And then see, dear Friends, how supremely obedient they were, how
entirely surrendered to the Divine impulse that moved them, for they
hastened to do what they were told to do and rejoiced as they bowed low
before the new-born Child, worshipping and adoring Him. They were also
abundantly generous with their offerings. They brought the best that
they could find–gold, and frankincense, and myrrh–and they spread the
royal gifts before the royal Child. Lord, send us converts like these
wise men! Send us men and women, in great multitudes, who will
cheerfully obey, who will find a delight in worshipping Christ, in
paying Him homage, giving to His service and in giving themselves to
Him!

Thus I have tried to show you what the Sovereign Grace of God did when
Christ was born. May the Lord, in His mercy, do the same to many here!
Oh, how often has it happened that when I least know it, I was
preaching to one who would become, afterwards, one of our best helpers,
one of our most earnest Brothers, one of our most fervent Sisters! I
hope that I am speaking to some such tonight–utter strangers as yet,
who will be brought into this Church, or into some other Church of
Jesus Christ–and become not a whit behind the very chief of the
Apostles, though as yet they are not numbered with the household of
faith!

II. But now, in the second place, I have a sad task. The other was a
glad task, but now I have the sad task of noticing THE NEAR ONES FAR
OFF.

Here, first, we read that many were troubled about Christ. He was but
newly born and yet He troubled them. Herod was troubled and all
Jerusalem was troubled with him. It is an unusual thing to hear of a
king troubled by a baby! Proud Herod, the fire-eater, troubled by a
Babe in swaddling bands, lying in a manger? Ah me! How little is the
real greatness of wickedness–and how small a power of goodness may
bring it grief! Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with Him. So, when
some people hear the Gospel, and find that it has power in it, they are
troubled. Herod was troubled because he feared that he should lose his
throne. He thought that the house of David, in the Person of the
newborn Child, would take possession of his throne, so he trembled and
was troubled. How many there are who think that if religion is true,
they will lose by it! Business will suffer. There are some businesses
that ought to suffer and as true godliness spreads, they will suffer. I
need not indicate them, but those who are engaged in them usually feel
that they had better cry out, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians," for
they get their living by making and selling her shrines–and if their
shrines are in danger and their craft is in danger–then they are
troubled. There are such. I have known men who have been leaders in
sin, ringleaders in sin, and they have thought that they would lose
some of their followers through Christ's coming, so they have been
troubled.

But all Jerusalem was troubled with Herod. Why was that? It was most
probably because they thought there would be contention. If there was a
new King born, there would be a fight between Him and Herod, and there
would be trouble for Jerusalem. So there are some men who say, "Do not
bring that religion here! It makes such contention. One believes this,
and one believes that, and another believes nothing at all. We shall
have trouble in the family if we get religion into it." Yes, you
will–that is acknowledged in the Scriptures–for our Lord came to
bring fire on the earth. He has come with a sword in His hand, on
purpose, to fight against everything that is evil–and there will be
contention. I do not wonder that the great lovers of ease are troubled!

But the fact is that many are troubled because the Gospel interferes
with their sin. "If I become a Christian, I cannot live as I have been
accustomed to live," says one, "so I will not believe the Gospel." The
great argument against the Bible is an ungodly life. If you probe to
the bottom of the matter, some sinful pleasure is the reason of many a
man's infidelity. There is a practical reason against his repenting–he
cannot give up his darling sin–he will not give it up, so he is trou-

bled when Christ comes near. It is a terrible thing to cling to sin.
That Spartan boy who caught a young fox and carried it in his bosom and
then, lest the schoolmaster should see it, and chastise him, allowed
the fox to go on eating into his flesh till it ate into his heart, is
like you. You are hugging this fox, this wolf, this asp to your bosom
all the while we are preaching to you! What comfort can we give you?
Quit your sin, or quit all hope! Will you have your sin and go to Hell,
or will you leave your sin and go to Heaven? You cannot have Christ and
sin–the two are diametrically opposed. I will not mention what your
sin may be. Let your own conscience tell you that. You cannot continue
in the practice of any known sin, willfully and deliberately, and yet
find any comfort from the Word of God, or from the Gospel! There must
be, in your heart's intent and resolve, the quitting of sin, or there
cannot be the finding of the Savior!

I have told you, before, of the two Highlanders who wanted to row
across a certain inlet on one occasion. They had been largely helping
themselves to whisky before they got into the boat, but they began to
row and they kept on rowing, but they made no progress. They could not
understand how it was that, with all their rowing, they stayed in the
same position till one said, "Sandy, did you pull the anchor up?" No,
he had never pulled the anchor up, so there they were, with the anchor
down and pulling away to no purpose! You must have that anchor up,
young man, whether it is drink, or lust, or gambling, or pilfering. You
are a fool if you pretend to row when you know that the anchor is still
sticking in the mud!

Oftentimes, when a man is troubled about religion, he says, "If I
become a Christian, I shall have to give up my pleasure." Not that true
religion requires us to give up anything which is real pleasure or, if
it makes us give up what affords us pleasure, now, it changes our
tastes so that it would no longer be a pleasure we could indulge. True
religion gives us new pleasures–it takes away our halfpence and it
gives us golden coin instead! It does better than that, but I cannot
employ a figure good enough to describe the change! True religion never
was designed to make our pleasures less and it does not make them less.
But still some think that it will do so and, hence their trouble. You
would be astonished if you knew why some men oppose true religion. The
wife will not go to a place of worship. There shall not be a Bible in
the house. They will not have their boy attending a Chapel where there
is a Prayer Meeting, or they will not allow the master where he is
apprenticed, to take the boy with him to the House of God. Men say and
do all sorts of strange things when they are troubled by Christ–and it
is not because they have any real ground for their perplexity. They are
troubled about Christ very much for the same reason that Herod and
Jerusalem were troubled about Him, certainly for no better reason.

Well now, this is very sad, that the Gospel, which is meant to be good
news to men, should trouble them! That the heavenly offer of Free Grace
should trouble them. That to have Heaven's gate widely open before them
should trouble them. That to be asked to wash themselves or to be
washed in the blood of Christ should trouble them. Troubled by Infinite
Mercy! Troubled by Almighty Love! Yet such is the depravity of human
nature that to many who hear the Gospel every day, it is still nothing
but a trouble to them.

Now there is another case here. It is the same man in another
character. There is one who plays the hypocrite. "Yes," he says, "there
is one who is born King of the Jews. Will you wise men kindly tell me
all about it? You say you saw a star? When did the star appear? Be very
particular. Did you take note of its movements? You say you saw it, and
you saw it, and you saw it? What time in the evening was it first
visible? What day of the month did it appear?" Herod is very particular
in getting all the information that he can about that star. And now he
sends for the doctors of divinity, and the scribes, and the priests,
and he says, "When ought this Messiah that you talk about to be born,
and where ought He to be born? Tell me." Herod, you see, is a wonderful
disciple, is he not? He is sitting at the feet of the doctors. He is
willing to be instructed by the magi and then he finishes up by saying
to the wise men, "Go now. You go and worship the newborn King. You are
quite right to have come all this distance to worship this Child. Be
particular, too, to take notes as to where you find Him and then come
and tell me about Him, that I, also, may go and worship Him."

So we always find that where Christ is, there is a Judas somewhere
about. If the Gospel comes to any place, there is a certain number of
persons who say, "Oh, yes, yes, yes, we shall attend that place!" I
know a certain town where there is one true preacher of the Gospel, who
has won many to Christ–but there are a great many who go there who
know nothing at all about Christ. Of course they go to what is called,
"The Tabernacle," in that place, because it is the right place to
attend! I know a town where there is one Church in which Evangelical
Doctrine is preached, and the good people all used to go to, "St.
Peter's." It was a kind of patent of respectability to have a pew at
St. Peter's because good Evangeli-

cal Doctrine was preached there! Well now, that is just how it is with
some persons nowadays. A certain number of people would think that all
was wrong with them if they did not hear sound Doctrine, but all the
while they have made up their minds that sound Doctrine shall never
change their lives and shall never affect their inward character! They
are hypocrites–just as this man, Herod, was! They will not have Christ
to reign over them! They do not mind hearing about Him. They do not
mind acknowledging, to a certain extent, His rights, but they will not
yield allegiance to Him–they will not practically submit to His rule
and become believers in Him. Am I not speaking to some such, tonight? I
know that I am! Dear Friends, do not stay in that state, I pray you!
You do not wish to be called a hypocrite–well then, if you cannot bear
to be called by that name, do not be such a character. Be true! Come to
Christ, bow at His feet, accept Him as your Lord, trust Him to save you
and then rejoice in Him as your Savior and King!

But there were other characters beside the hypocrite who were troubled
and they wore the men who displayed their learning. These were the
scribes and the chief priests who looked in their Bibles and turned up
that passage of the Prophet which said where Jesus was to be born. Now,
I like these people for looking up their Bibles and studying the
Scriptures–but what I do not like in them is that while they told
Herod that Christ was to be born at Bethlehem, none of them said that
they would go to Bethlehem and worship Him! Not a living soul of them,
not a scribe or a chief priest said, "If this is the Messiah, who was
to be born at Bethlehem–and this remarkable star makes us believe that
it is even so–we will go with the wise men and worship Him." No, not
they! They were quite content to have the Sacred Roll and read it and
know all about the Truth of God, and yet to leave it there!

I used to know, in my youth, certain very sound Calvinistic Brothers. I
fancy that they were a little too sound, certainly sixteen ounces to
the pound with an ounce or two of bone thrown in and, after they had
had a glass or two of beer, they could talk over Scripture better than
they could before. I think that the most of those people sleep in the
dust. I hope that the whole tribe will–I mean those who live only upon
talking sound Doctrine without feeling the power of it. But nowadays I
meet people "mighty in the Scriptures," yes, and very keen, too, upon
Doctrine, who–

"Could a hair divide

Betwixt the west and northwest side," as regards points of Divinity,
but as to charity to the poor, as to visiting the needy, as to caring
for the souls of men, as to holy living and as to prevalence in prayer
with God, they are nowhere at all! I pray you to dread a religion which
is all in the Book! You must have it in the heart–you must have it in
the life–or else this Child that was born at Bethlehem will only
affect you so far that you turn over the Books of Scripture, and that
is an end of the matter so far as you are concerned. Yes, yes, yes,
know your Bible, that is good! But practice what your Bible tells you,
for that is better! Yes, yes, yes, understand the Doctrines of Grace,
be clear upon them–but love them, live them–for that is far better.
Yes, yes, yes, be a sound Divine, but let us see a holy humanity about
you as well. God grant that it may be so! Otherwise, I tell you, your
book-learning will still leave you an enemy of Christ!

The saddest point is that none of these people sought Christ–not Herod
with his hypocrisy, nor Jerusalem with its troubles, nor the scribes
and priests with their ancient knowledge–none of them sought Christ!
May God grant that no hearer of mine may be on that black list! Oh, may
we all seek Jesus! May we all find Him! May we find Him tonight! We
shall seek and find Him if we really felt in our hearts that hymn that
we sang just before the sermon–

"I need You, precious Jesus!

For I am full of sin.

My soul is dark and guilty,

My heart is dead within.

I need the cleansing fountain,

Where I can always flee,

The blood of Christ most precious,

The sinner's perfect plea."

There are two prayers with which I wish to close my discourse. One is,
"Lord, bring the far-off ones near tonight!" May I beg the thousands of
Israel present, tonight, to pray that prayer? You cannot tell for whom
you are praying, but you need not know. There may be persons here who
are as far from God as they can be. To them I give this text, the word
of our exalted Savior and Lord, "Look unto Me, and be you saved, all
the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." Look,
look, look, look! Sinner, look unto Him and be saved!–

"There is life for a look at the crucified One, There is life at this
moment for you." "For you." "For you." Then look! Look now and find it
to be so!–

"There is life at this moment for you."

The other prayer, and I ask my Brothers and Sisters here who have power
in prayer to pray it, is, "Lord, bring the near ones really near–these
many who are always in this House and yet not in Christ!" No, I must
not say these "many"–I mean these few–for there are now few who are
in that condition. Lord, bring them in! One came the other Monday and
said, "I am one of the few. I have been attending the Tabernacle for
many years and yet I have never told you that I have found the Savior."
And he came to confess his Master. There are still some few of that
sort. Lord, bring them all in! You who are always hearers only,
remember that text, "Many shall come from the east and west, and shall
sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of Heaven.
But the children of the Kingdom"–that is, you people who have heard
the Gospel ever since you were children–"the children of the Kingdom
shall be cast out." Pushed aside–"cast out into outer darkness. There
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Pray that it may not be so
with one single hearer of mine tonight, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON. MATTHEW 2:1-12.

Verses 1, 2. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days
of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the East to
Jerusalem, saying, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For
we have seen His star in the East, and have come to worship Him.
Observe here that when the Son of God was born into the world, it was
in a very lowly village, the village of Bethlehem. Very naturally, the
wise men supposed that "the King of the Jews" would be born in the
palace, in the metropolis of the country, at Jerusalem. But it pleased
the Lord that everything about Christ's birth should have the stamp of
lowliness, that the poorest and humblest of men might understand that
Christ took not upon Him the nature of princes, but the nature of
men–not of the great ones of the earth, but of our common humanity.
Hence Jesus was born of a lowly virgin and was but roughly cradled in a
manger, and the village chosen as the place of His birth was Bethlehem,
well-named the, "house of bread," for it is there that the Bread of our
souls is found.

The Holy Child Jesus was born "in the days of Herod the king." The last
spark of sovereignty was just dying out. Herod, an alien, held the
kingdom under the Roman Empire. Did not old Jacob's prophecy say, "The
scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh comes"? Therefore is it expressly mentioned that
Jesus was born "in the days of Herod the king." We must also remember
that although our Lord's birth is full of every circumstance of
humiliation, it has a wondrous glory about it. The Magi, probably from
Persia–"wise men," philosophers and theologians–heard in far-off
lands of His fame and a star led them to His feet. "There came wise men
from the East." They supposed that the birth of Christ would be well
known among the Jews and be a common theme of conversation. So, when
they reached Jerusalem, they enquired, "Where is He who has been born
King of the Jews?" Ah, when the heart is awakened to the love of
Christ, it often dreams that everybody else feels an equal interest in
Him, but it is not so! The world is dead and cold to Christ and men
look astonished when we ask the question, "Where is He? We have seen
His star in the East and have come to worship Him." These wise men were
not Unitarians who disbelieved the Deity of Christ. It has been said by
some that they only meant that they came to pay Him the homage of a
king. Then why did they not worship Herod, and why did Herod say that
he wished to worship Him? It will not do, the thought is not to be
endured for a single moment! The magi believed that He who was born
King of the Jews was more than a human being– and they had come to
worship him.

3. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him. The wise men brought the best news that ever was
told and yet it troubled people! Does the Gospel trouble you, my
Friend? Then I am afraid you must be of Herod's kith and kin. It is an
ill sign of a man's heart when that which is for the good of all men
becomes a trouble to him! It is an ill stomach that turns good meat to
poison. I suppose "all Jerusalem" was troubled with Herod because they
knew that whenever this gloomy tyrant had a fit upon him, he was sure
to draw blood somewhere– therefore they were troubled with him.

4. And when he had gathered all the chiefpriests and scribes of the
people together, he inquired of them where Christ was to be born. Think
of this vile wretch taking to studying his Bible! Yet there are some
who still do the same. Reckoning that gain is godliness and, therefore,
turning godliness into gain for sinister motives, they would be
religious and wish to be instructed in the Truths of the Bible. Such
was Herod–so he gathered all the chief priests and scribes together
and inquired of them where Christ was to be born.

5, 6. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is
written by the Prophet, And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are
not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of you shall come a
Governor that shall rule My people Israel. Now, you see, what Herod did
with an ill design was overruled for good, for thus we know on the
highest authority that Christ was born at Bethlehem! The chief priests
and scribes, great students of the Law of God, when they were assembled
in the presence of Herod, declared that, according to prophecy, Christ
was to be born in Bethlehem.

7, 8. Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, enquired
of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to
Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young Child; and
when you have found Him, bring me word, again, that I may come and
worship Him also. Covering his bloody design with the pretense of
reverence. There is never a worse sin in the world than that which a
man covers over with the cloak of religion! Let us always beware of
falling into this evil.

9, 10. 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. When they saw the star, they rejoiced
with exceedingly great joy. You see, the light of the star was taken
from them for a time, just as sometimes the delightful Presence of God
is withdrawn from His people. Then, Beloved, you walk by faith, alone,
and not by sight, as these men did. But oh, when the Light of God comes
back, again–when, after hearing all the chattering of false priests
and scribes, and all the talk of Herod the great one, they see the star
again–how glad they are! When God sends to His people clear shinings
after rain–the brightness of His Presence, after a time of gloom–then
is it with them its it was with the wise men, "they rejoiced with
exceedingly great joy."

11. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child
with Mary, His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. The old
Reformers used to say, "Here is a bone that sticks in the throat of the
Romanists and they can neither get it up nor down, for it does not say,
'They saw Mary and the young Child.' The young Child is put first–they
came to see Him–and it does not say that 'they fell down and
worshipped them.' If ever there was an opportunity for Mariolatry,
surely this was the one–when the Child was, as yet, newly-born and
depended so much upon His mother. Why did not the magi say, 'Ave
Maria!' and commence at once their Mariolatry?" Yes, but these were
wise men–they were not priests from Rome, otherwise they might have
done it.

11. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him
gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. The best they had! Presents
fit for a King–offered as the tribute of the country from which they
came–gold, and frankincense, and myrrh being found in the East. It is
well to bring to Christ the best we have, and the best of the
best–"gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."

12. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to
Herod, they departed to their own country another

way.