THE KING IS HERE | Game of Thrones | Matthew 2:1-23 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Somebody just saying. Ain't no one gonna cry out. down and watch this work. I know you scratch your head. Um dia você vai sentir o que... For some of you that's gonna happen today. The Holy Spirit is Suicidal! from the fires of hell and ushered me into the kingdom of light. You won't know what For some of you today in the name of Jesus. The devil is a liar and a defeatist! We didn't come to have served! We proclaim the word and spread the gospel, win souls and multitudes. Time is running out!

SET TIME! It's running out! Pay attention to the news. It's reading right up. No, we're going to be watchmen on the wall. sucking out doing conferences that don't matter. It doesn't matter if the gospel's not... And twice this! And souls is not being And men and women are not beat- We say Lord give us souls as we die. famous scripture in the world. But I'm praying to God. The second the famous scripture in the whole world.

To send a ripple effect through the whole body Saved out of the bottom of the pool. to something the kingdom and a commission Preach and you listen to all It makes you think all of this is about you.

And that the Bible is about you. No, the Bible is about one man. He is the center of the narrative. We are privileged if we are saved to be inserted into his story. American. We think it's all about the right. And we just rub him to get whatever we want. He don't say yes. forbid he don't answer your prayer. waiting for you over there. This is a life of testing, a life of service, a life of A life of faithfulness.

See? And for this kind of preaching, we don't want to we for this kind of preaching we Knocking down the doors for this kind of preaching? No. We love that garbage that makes you feel awesome every single week while you're on your way to hell. We need revival in this nation! And stop blaming the world. Revival don't start in the world. It starts right here in the pulpits of America. Not the world. This is the enemy of the church. is the greatest threat that comes out of it every single week.

This is what And Paul wrote when they left. Or my greatest concern. My greatest concern! I know that men will come behind me and preach to you the doctrines of devils and and lead people astray. Comfortable energy! Until the Lord takes the last breath from my body. And I don't care if they don't invite me to their Well they come. I don't care. They're not gonna shut me up. We're not gonna be silent in this church. I tell we're not gonna be silent. We're gonna let the world know.

That we serve a written king who gave us. And they not gonna show Not for popularity, not for money, not for platforms. I don't care So serious For me, my reward is not going to be no conference I preach. No amount of money I make, my reward is gonna be the crown I laid out. That's my reward! The crown I take off! And I lay at the feet of Jesus. Servant, that's my reward. Not Adelaide. Not a big fo- a platform, not a dollar bill. I'm so serious!

You heard what I said? A gathering of disciples making disciples. that but discipleship is not a Together, the older teaching the younger, the younger learning from the other. I was keeping it. for one another, paying each other's bills, helping one another, supporting one another, leaning on one another's shoulders. goes astray, go back and get them and

Back, loving one another, be kind to one another, forgiving one another. It's saying men. It's like soldiers on the battlefield, we leave nobody bloody, we pick them. place of safety in prayer. We will love one another and live one another. Each other to our homes and eat chicken together and all that. This is discipleship until we all arrive. Together. Nobody left behind. More than a class, more than growth track, more than your

It is life on life. Who do you know? Who is your circle? Are they keeping you accountable? There's people in this church I do life with. See how friendly this is. This is a teaching. In the book of Matthew. A whole year in the book of Matthew. Through the book of Matthew. Matthew aforesaid. Collect the working for the Roman. Called by Jesus in the first century to the Matthew. First in the New Testament, not written first. It is the most widely read.

The church used for seventeen hundred years to ground people. And I'm praying that We will have laid a little bit. Principle by principle. That's a recorded in Amen. And week number one. the king. It's called a royal. Last week we talked about the earth. The birth of the brother. The Virgin Martin. A vixen botch. Today we're gonna study mathematics. We're gonna run through it really quickly. We're gonna title this Game of Thrones. Amen. Of thrones. Spirit of the living God. Speak.

I'm struggling this very morning. My faith is in you. I'm just a man. God trying to explain. Upon and exclaimed the Lord Jesus Christ. I asked for help publicly. And ask that you will open the hearts of my brothers and sisters. Somebody shout amen. It's a one o'clock Sunday. Somebody say, take your time. Can I? Are you sure? Don't rush me.

Uh my family. As I was preparing for this message. I was thinking about you, I was thinking about me. I was thinking about something that happened to me early in my Christian walk. Something that's a lot of us are familiar with even from a tender age. As I thought about this particular text, this particular chapter, I thought about one of the most difficult and painful things that we deal with in our human experience, and that is this this painful word called rejection.

If you've never been rejected, just keep living. And at some point in time in your lifetime you might feel what many of us can testify of of this human sting called rejection. This this this unfortunate tragic reality of life called rejection that often leaves a lot of us with scars from our childhood and scars from our adulthood and all manner of trauma. For some of us, we can testify of what it feels like to be rejected.

There are people in this room, probably people watching right now, you was adopted. Never met your biological parents and maybe you thought to yourself, well, why did not they want me? Was I not good enough? Was I not pretty enough? Was I not a handsome enough? Nobody dedicated me when I was a little child. Some of us, we've never met our biological parents, and all these years we're still wondering why did they reject me? Why did they not want me? Why was I not good enough?

Some of us know what it is to not meet a parent. They skated out at a young age, raised by a single mother or a single father, and battling with the feelings of rejection this parent did not. Some of us know what it is to love someone very deeply a spouse, a significant other, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a mentor. who at some point in time just rejects you for whatever reason. Shut down the door of access. You don't know.

But for whatever reason you walk away feeling like you was not good enough for the relationship. What did you do wrong? You spend years questioning yourself, was I good enough? Was I pretty enough? Small enough? Tall enough? Thick enough? Thin enough? Whatever the case is. Some of us know what it is to have good friends who in some season they walk out of our lives. And if you just keep living like I have, you might rack up a few scars of knowing what it feels like to be rejected.

I'm not sure if I've ever met someone yet who has never felt some measure of rejection. Can I get a witness from anybody in the world? And yet, for all of us who have felt rejection, I want to tell you the Lord is intimately acquainted with your feelings. For from the even earliest days of his life, Jesus too knew what it was to be. Stranger and rejection. Matthew recorded for us an account of this unfortunate reality in the early days of the life of Jesus.

I want to read to you this account and just unpack a few things for you and I'll pray for you and we'll be done. In Matthew chapter two, verse one, Matthew records these words. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Luke would tell us they was pushed there because of a census. They did not originally live there, but because of a census, they had no choice but to travel to Bethlehem.

And 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 the Who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. Now, a few things I want to point out from this text. I want you to notice that Jesus was forced. God watching over all the affairs of his birth and his early childhood.

We see Jesus, the bread of life, was born in a city called the house of bread. Now for all of us at Christmas time, we hear about these dudes every Christmas time so much that we're numb to them. The wise men. You've seen it in Christmas plays and in your nativity scene. We put three of them there. One always looks Asian, one always looks black, and one always looks white. They have funny hats on.

And we always put three of them coming to see Jesus in a manger. They did not see Jesus in a manger because he was not in a manger when they arrived. The truth of the matter is we don't know who these wise men were. Wise men in the Greek is where we get the word magoi, where we translate that into magi. We don't have any idea who these men were. We don't even know how many of them there were.

Although we say there's three because of what they came, we don't know how many they were. We don't know who they were. We have no historical record about who these men were or where they actually came from, except they came from the east towards Bethlehem. But we do know something about these men that these men had knowledge. Of prophetic records from the Old Testament. The Old Testament existed when Christ was born.

They had knowledge of the Old Testament because they said to Herod, Where is he who has been born, the king of the Jews? So they would have known from the scriptures, from the prophecies of the past. That at some point in time in history, God was gonna send his son, God was gonna send a king, God was gonna send the promised Messiah, God was gonna send a ruler.

These men who had knowledge of the scriptures, maybe parchments of the scriptures, knew that the Messiah would be born sometime soon, and then they saw his star appear. And they knew that he was on the earth. I want you to notice that they didn't see a star. I want you to look very closely at the text. They said they saw his. You gotta read slowly. Not not Orion's belt.

Not the little dipper, not all the stars we see every night down here in in the city or in the country. All these beautiful stars we see that they didn't see they didn't say anything about those stars. They said they saw his star. So that means these wise men from whatever country they was in, some believe Persia, someplace in the east.

One night looked up and saw some type of formation in the sky that was different from all the stars they had seen before. And from that formation, they knew to themselves that the king must be on the earth. It couldn't have been any star. But it was some kind of cosmic superior. Supernatural. Formation. Now, in history, in the year six BC, the planets Jupiter. Yeah. Mars and Saturn had aligned in the year six BC. And it formed some something in the sky. And so some people.

Some people say that what they saw was the aligning of those planets in the year 6 BC. This happened in history. But but but I don't think that's what they saw was just the aligning of those planets because I don't think the aligning of the planets will be his star. What I believe they saw was the Shekinah glory of God. Sending a divine sign to the earth that the king you have been waiting for for thousands of years, he is now on the earth.

Just like one day we're going to feel in the spirit that the Antichrist is in the earth. Another vicious person that's coming in world history, according to the scriptures. I'm telling we gonna feel he might be alive right now in school, a little boy, preparing to take over the world, empowered by the devil, according to Revelation. He might be alive right now.

The spirit of rebellion and all that is evil and wicked dwells in him through the power of the enemy. He might be alive right now, but what these men I saw was not the planets aligning. But what I believe they saw was the Shekinah glory of God called his star. And I think this is so powerful how God arranged the circumstances for this to happen because, man, it just speaks volumes to me that sometimes God will allow circumstances in our life to bring about his divine purposes.

That it was a census that pushed Jesus' family to Bethlehem. Him being a Bethlehem was a fulfillment of prophecy. And as I look at this passage carefully, man, it just reminds me, I'm telling you, some of you have been through things. And have moved to different places and think that man it was just this hardship. This person rejected me. That door closed, not realizing God was allowing certain circumstances in your life.

To engineer in your life the things he's already spoken over you. For some of you, he said, man, I gotta get that child from where they are to the south, for in the south they ministry shall be born. I gotta get Philip from New York to in Atlanta because in Atlanta his church will be born. God did not intend for my church to be born in New York.

So he engineered the circumstances of my life to push me out of that city into the south that my ministry will be born where he purposed for it to be born. Some of you, your feet is on the ground that God intended for you to be on because He engineering circumstances in your life.

To bring out of you the purposes and plans that he has for you. But look, not everyone was excited about the news of the birth of Jesus. The Magi was, but not everybody. Watch verse 2. We flying. Verse 3. Let's let's let's walk. Are y'all okay? Are you sure? Do you need a stand and stretch? Can I teach Verse 3. When Herod the king heard this about the birth of the son, He was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him, they were what? Troubled. So the Magi is excited about the birth of Christ.

Herod is troubled about the birth of Christ. All of the city of Jerusalem, because the king is troubled. They are troubled about the birth of Christ. So a group of wise men are excited that the king is here. An entire city is in trouble because they feel like the king is here. One group is excited about Jesus, the other group is stirred up and troubled over Jesus. Come on, it's

And assembling the chief priests and scribes and the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. He inquired where the Christ was to be born. So he would have had to have some knowledge that somebody was coming that was greater than me. And they told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it's written by the prophet, Matthew says, and you, O Bethlehem.

In the land of Judah, by no means least among the rulers of Judah, from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. So, according to the prophets, the king was supposed to be coming out of Bethlehem and it was watch not their desire to be in Bethlehem, but a census that forced them to be there that put them in Bethlehem. Some of the hardships that you've cried about was God engineering something greater in your life.

I'm telling you that right now. Some of you have shed things, tears over things you despise. That was God really injured. Listen, God has sent some of you to some cities and broke you in that place only to get your attention. Slam some doors in your face only to get your attention.

I ended up suicidal in the south, which really turned my heart all the way to Jesus. Some of you went north, some of you went east and west, wherever God found you. But there's some circumstances in your life that God was engineering so he could get your absolute attention. Fulfilling prophecy in your own life, things he's spoken of you that you're not even aware about.

Every now and then it's good to look over your shoulder and trace where God brought you from and be like, oh snap, that happened because. And you was working there. And you closed that door because and you pushed me out of that city because I lost that job because. This person walked away because they came into my life because I got hurt because you found me on the basement of the floor because you met me in that bathroom in North Carolina because.

Somebody just thank God for being a great chess player. Man, who was Herod the king? Herod was the was the puppet king of the area of Judea. Herod in history, if you read about him, was a very wicked and evil man. Very ruthless and very vicious. This brother was so evil, he killed his first wife. He killed many more of his wives, and when his sons had become teenagers to protect his throne, he slaughtered two of his sons. He was killing his own children to keep them away from his throne.

Ruthless, vicious. Herod was a thug, a puppet king set up by the Roman Empire. And it says Herod was troubled. Why? Why was he troubled? This is so powerful. Herod is troubled because he thinks if a king was born that's greater than me, he's coming for my throne. But watch. Jesus wasn't coming for Herod's throne because Jesus didn't want that physical seat that Herod sat on. Jesus was coming to establish a heavenly throne, a eternal throne. Herod is worried about a physical throne.

Jesus is coming to establish an eternal throne. And so, no, a man with a lesser throne is worried about a greater man with a greater throne. And watch Jesus. to protect something that Jesus don't want. You and I behave the same way. That I'm telling you, there are people who are so afraid of God because you're worried about what Jesus is coming to take from you. So I don't want to give my

to Jesus because I'm worried he might take my freedom and he might make me a missionary in Africa or he might he might take away my my liberties or he might take away my money or my bank account. And some of us man we fighting to protect things that Jesus don't even want. But can I go deeper? Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Let's put Jesus on trial. No, he is a taker. He is a robber. Yeah, he is a robber. He is a taker. Yeah, he is. He's a taker of sin.

He's a taker of unforgiveness. He's a taker of happiness. He's a taker of the pressure A taker of suicide. A taker of loneliness. He's a taker of all these things that be harassing the human heart. Yes, he is a taker. He's a taker of tears for exchange for joy. He is a taker. You know what he took from me? He took from me hopelessness when I was suicidal.

You know what else he took from me? Purposelessness, he took that from me. Aimless living, he took that from me. Blindness, he took that from me. Spiritual death, he took that from me. Being outside of the kingdom, he took that from me. He robbed me of all of that. He is a taker. He didn't take my car or my girl or my money man. He took all those things that were killing me on the inside. Yes, he is a taker. He's a

The penalty of sin. He's a taker of the wrath of God. He's a taker of all those things you're holding on to that you really don't want. Like trying to give your own account before God in the judgment. Like your blood is strong enough to pay for your own sin. No, he's a taker of your case.

And say, listen, I'll pay the price for them. He's a taker of your court case in heaven. Everybody in here was born with a court case before heaven. And your recheet says you're guilty. And he's a taker of your guilt. The priority of Jesus is not your stuff, but the throne of your heart. That's what he's after. He wants the throne of your heart, not your stuff.

You can have your stuff. He just wants the throne of your heart. That place, the seat of where everything else sits there that you love more than him. That's the throne he's after. Some of us so afraid like Herod. We're trying to block Jesus from getting all of our. We're just so afraid.

If I really give him all of me, he might take my business or he might take my podcast or he might take my my my my money or he might he might give make me give everything away to the poor and send me a we so afraid no no no no no he might bless those things He might make them greater. He might use them for a greater purpose. What he's really after is the throne of your heart. He just wants full surrender is what he's really after. Not the throne of your stuff, the throne of your heart.

So Matthew I just want you to notice can I teach You notice how Matthew keeps continually saying, Jesus did this so that this would be fulfilled. Jesus this happened so that this would be fulfilled. And he was born here so that this Matthew keeps adding all.

Taking passages from the Old Testament. I mean, he's sitting down in the year AD 60. He's writing about Jesus, everything he remembered about Jesus, and he keeps taking scriptures from the Old Testament and saying, Man, I realized he was born before this to be fulfilled. He came for that will be fulfilled. This happened that that may be fulfilled. When Jesus did that, that was fulfilled. When he fed the 5,000, that was fulfilled. When he rose from the grave, that was fulfilled.

When he was persecuted, that was fulfilled, that was fulfilled, that was fulfilled, that was fulfilled, that was fulfilled. That was fulfilled. That's what Matthew's doing. He's a Jewish man looking back at Jewish scriptures and saying, This man who I knew for three and a half years, man, he fulfilled all this stuff we've been reading about since we were little kids.

Now, why is this so significant? Okay. I want to read you something that's not coming up on the screen on purpose because I want you to listen to my voice. Okay. I read an article about a team of mathematicians who published a study. Of the mathematical odds of a person fulfilling just eight of the 50 explicit prophecies that Jesus fulfilled when he came to now. I'm gonna tell you right now, as a student of the Bible, Jesus fulfilled some 300 prophecies.

Okay? Let me, this is this is important. Okay? As a student of the scriptures, I'm going to tell you that Jesus' life, his birth and his life, he fulfilled some 300 Prophesy. Prophecies from the Old Testament, but they are fifty that's like right in your face. Now, I want you to listen to this. Okay? The odds of a person not fulfilling 300, not 58. How many? Somebody say the number.

Say the number. Shout at me the number. What is the mathematical probability that one human being in history could fulfill eight? Of just fifty prophecies about where they would be born, how they will be born, what cities they would be in, how they would live, how they would die, how they would raise, just the mathematical prophecy of how many? How many? Now listen to this article. The reason why prophecy is an indication of divine authorship of scripture.

And hence a testimony to the trustworthiness of the message of the scripture. It's because the minute possibility of fulfillment of prophecy, anyone can make predictions. Having those prophecies fulfilled is vastly different. In fact, the more statements made about the future. And the more detail there is about the future, the less likely the precise fulfillment can be.

For example, what's the likelihood of a person predicting today in 2023 the exact city in which the birth of a future leader would take place? Well, into the 22nd century or 24th century. This is indeed what the prophet Micah did 700 years before the birth of Christ. Further, what is the likelihood of predicting the precise man?

Death that an unknown religious leader would experience thousands of years into the future, especially a death that had not been created yet. Like crucifixion did not exist during these prophecies. Yet this is what David did a thousand years before Christ when he wrote about the death of Christ in the Psalm. Again, what is the likelihood of predicting the specific date of the appearance of some great future leader?

Hundreds of years in advance, yet this is exactly what Daniel did 530 years before the birth of Christ. Now listen to this. Now watch this. Everybody listen. This is dope. This is dope. A professor at Westmont College calculated the probability of one human being fulfilling any one of the major prophecies made about Jesus the Messiah.

The estimates were worked out by 12 classrooms of students representing 600 university students. Now listen to this. After examining only eight, not 300, not 50, only 8 different. They conservatively lowball estimate that the chance of one human being in history fulfilling all eight prophecies is 10 to the 17th power. That's a lot of commas. That's not what you want your bank account to be already. Right.

To illustrate how large the number 10 to the 17th power is, a figure with 17 zeros, the professor gave this illustration. If you mark one of 10 tickets and place it all in a hat, Thoroughly shake up the hat and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one ticket out, his chance of getting the ticket is one in ten.

Now, suppose we take 10 to the 17th power. This is equivalent to taking 10 to the 17th silver dollars coins, lay them on the face of the state of Texas. They will cover the entire state of Texas. Yeah. So it's two feet deep. This is like covering the state of Texas with two feet deep of silver coins. Now mark just one silver dollar and stir up the entire state.

Blindfold one man and tell him you could travel to the top of the state, to the bottom of the state, to the east of the west, in any direction you want, but you must pick up one coin that's marked. What chance would he have of getting that coin right? He'll have the same chance as the prophets would have had writing these eight prophecies and having all of them come true by one man.

So the chance of one human being fulfilling the prophecy of the Old Testament, just eight of them, is equivalent to filling the state of Texas with silver dollars two feet thick and telling one person to who's blindfolded to find one silver dollar. Pastor, I don't get what you're trying to tell me. Jesus is the only son of God. There is only one true God. And every other God is an idol.

It cannot see. It cannot hear. There is only one true living God. And every other God, no matter what his name is, is an idol. It is false. It is the creation of human beings and the trick of demonic devils. There is only one God, and his name is Jehovah, and Jesus is his son. There is no other God. Every other God is an idol, cannot see, cannot hear. There is only one true living God.

Some of you will be fighting for Jesus using the wrong weaponry. Just go to prophecy. All right, let me let me finish up. Verse can I teach? Somebody said teach us. I just heard that in my spirit. Not entertain us. Teach us. Y'all going to be still a load. All right. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.

And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, Go and search diligently for the child. Watch, watch, watch, watch, watch Herod. Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word. That I too. Make home and worship. Right. Here is Herod saying to man, go find him, and when y'all find him, let me know. And when y'all get there, I'm gonna follow y'all when y'all get there, and I'm gonna come and I'm gonna worship.

Right? Herod is not really trying to worship the Lord. He just has an evil plot, an evil motive. So what do we see right here in this text? We see the first rejection of Jesus. From the time he was a little boy, already the king is like, now I don't want no parts of him. The whole city, the king, everybody is like, no. When they're troubled about the Lord Jesus Christ, Herod rejects him. I don't want to hear nothing about the coming Messiah.

So he disguised behind piety an evil motive. Come and show me where the king is. So I will come and w worship him, man. Man, religious people do this all the time. We disguise evil behind the guise of religion. Herod was plotting on Jesus just like man. Man, you be having Christians plotting on you. I love you. Bless the Lord, man. Plotting on. My mother used to tell that's why when you deal with people you gotta have discernment.

You you you you just can't believe everything everybody tell you. That's why I teach my children not to be gullible, to look at people with an eyebrow raised. You gotta know the spirit and test the spirit by the spirit. I don't care if you've been in church your whole life, man. That part, man. You gotta pray and ask God for discernment so you could be in a conversation with someone and feel like static in your soul. I mean, this sounds good, but something about this don't feel right.

You're about to do the business contract. This looks good on paper, but something about this don't feel right. You gotta have discernment.

Natural guidance of God. Verse 9. And after listening to the king, they went on their way, and behold, the Star that they had seen when it arose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. So they followed the star, and it stopped over the house where Jesus was, and when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

Now, I know you read this and we don't see nothing supernatural in this text. But I'm like, I'm a I'm a a nerd on the law. I like astrology and I like theology. Um Can I ask y'all a question? In our night sky, the star, the sun, the moon, they move from what direction to what direction? The sun rises in the and it sets in the so far. And our sky, all of our planetary activities from the east to the west, that can't change because of the rotation of the earth.

But it says the star led them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. I've been to Israel. Bethlehem, I've been there, is south of Jerusalem. They it it's I think the plane took off. They wasn't strapped in Bethlehem is south of Jerusalem. But this star led them from Jerusalem south to Bethlehem. So it could not have been. It could have been a regular star. Because a star can't move north to south. With the rotation of the earth, it can only go from east to west. But this star was like

That star was percolating in the wrong direction. So either it was the planets, like they said in 6 BC, or it was the glory of God Almighty. What? Invading the cosmos to make sure that these men did not have to search. He gave them a heavenly GPS. It will lead them to the exact house of the Messiah. Man, this shows me the great lengths God will go through to guide and lead the hearts of the humble and the hungry. Man, the Lord would disrupt the cosmos.

To lead the hearts of the humble and the hungry. That if you are humble. And if you are hungry, man, God will move heaven and earth to guide you. Somebody thank God for his guidance right now. What? What? What? I said thank God for his guidance right now. He will move heaven and earth to guide you when your heart is humble and hungry.

He speaks to a person, he'll speak to the word, he'll talk to you in the commercial, he'll talk to you from a song, he'll talk to you from a circumstance, man. My son, my daughter, but I called you to do. Too significant, man. I will move heaven and earth to guide you. I'll shut down the whole plant at Feta. To guide you, I'll give 299 people a reassignment except one person just to guide you.

Because my God. Jovita, I'm gonna take this from me. When you know you're in God's will, man, he will move heaven and earth to guide you. Thank you. He created a brand new star. Just to guide a group of men to the house of the Messiah. And to make sure in history that nobody could get the credit, he caused the star to go from north to south. A cosmic impossibility because of the rotation of the earth. Did you hear what I just said? A cosmic impossibility because of the rotation of the earth.

I'm sorry, I'll be reading these scriptures in my office. I'll fall out of my chair. I'll be in awe of God. Am I the only one just in awe of God? I told y'all last week, Deedra, when I worked for FedEx. True story. 300 people at there at that plant shut down the whole. 299 people got a reassignment except one Philip Anthony Mitchell. Now you gonna follow me or not? Who's taking no? Let me let me let me write this down. Let me tell you the best GPS you will ever have is not the app on your phone.

Let me just just write this down. Let me tell you the best GPS you'll ever have in your entire life. If you really want to be guided from now until you die, let me tell you the best GPS you'll ever have in your entire life. Y'all ready for this? You ready? You ready? Yes, sir. Proverbs. Three five through six trust in the Lord with all your heart And lean not on your own understanding. You ain't that smart. In all of your ways, acknowledge him. Watch the promise, and he.

will direct your path. Can I say it to you one time? Trust in the Lord. With all of your heart. And lean not on your own understanding in all of your ways, your good ways and your bad ways. Acknowledge him and he Will So if I don't know my path, am I trusting? Am I acknowledging? That been my GPS since I was twenty five years of age. It's better than the app on your phone.

Verse eleven. Watch their own. You better lock in. You say, Lock in, lock in. This is heat. The wise men are led by some cosmic activity. It comes to the house of the king. They in the king. Lock in. This verse is probably the most important. Verse 11. And going into the house, not the manger. That's why your nativity scene is messed up. I'm just teaching. I'm just trying to teach. It wasn't a wise man in a manger. When they found Christ, he was about two years of age. In a house.

That's why you can't let culture inform your theology. So a lot of y'all gonna be clearing out your nativity scene next Christmas. Ain't no wise men and no manger. When they found him, he was in a house. And going into the house, they saw not the baby, the child with Mary his mother. And when they saw the two year old king.

When they came into the presence of the two-year-old king, when they put their eyes on the two-year-old king, when they felt the glory of the two-year-old king, they fell down. Prostrate. And they worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense. Expensive. Myrrh. Traveled thousands and thousands of miles to get to the house of the king. And when they saw him, they had the only right response to the presence of the Lord Jesus worship.

Joy, generosity, the natural response to the king of glory is not give me and do for me, it's worship. Thank you. Listen, has anyone ever can testify this? You go close your door, you come into the presence of God, and you just start crying. You you don't even know why. You don't even start to pray yet. And you just start crying because the presence is so overwhelming. Anybody? You just you close the door and your heart is heavy.

You've been hurt by some man, some woman, you lost something you love, your heart is grieving, you go into his presence, you close the door, and before you can get any words off your lips, you just start crying, you just feel over. That's why you should never laugh when you see somebody on their knees or face down on the floor. That when you really feel Give me a... The first response is it's worship. Worship could be a song.

Worship could be a dance. Worship could be silent. You could stand up and worship, sit down and worship, lay down and worship, roll around and worship, pass out and worship, fall asleep during worship. The only right response to the king is Hamage. Reverence. And he's not just a name on a bracelet or a t-shirt. He's the holy King of Kings. And when we come into his presence, we owe him what? Worship.

Let me finish up. Notice the gifts that they gave him. What were the gifts? Gold, frankincense, myrrh. He said, Why why why do you bring gold to a child? And frankincense expensive to a child in myrrh. I I I don't know why they brought these gifts, but as a student of the word, I see these gifts as almost prophesying the life and the death of Gold was an expensive gift fit for a king. That he was the king of kings that he is the king of kings.

Frankincense is a type of incense. You use incense for deity is what gods take. So we give we give deity incense as a symbol that this little child, he's not just a human being, he is divine. So we give him incense. And not just any incense, frankincense. Not that stuff from Vicky Seeks. First century frankincense. But this last gift, myrrh.

Mr. Who brings a king myrrh? That's like the present under the tree you don't want to unwrap. Myrrh. I don't want myrrh. You know what myrrh was? A spice you use as embalming fluid for dead people. Why I'm Joseph like why are you bringing my son Myrr? Myr? What are you trying to say? Oh, he was born to die. Oh. He it's what the prophet said. He was born to die. Well this is foreshadowing of that cross that was coming for him. For you and for me.

Prophesy in his life. Let me finish. Verse 12. Now watch. Yes, sir.

Verse twelve. Watch. This this verse is profound. Watch Watch verse twelve. Watch watch the exit of the magi from history. Watch verse twelve. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod. They departed to their own country, I like these words, by another way. You know where I'm going, Jay? What? Hey. The scripture says they came to see the child and they left from seeing a child, they went back another way. They came in to see Jesus from one direction.

And they left out a different direction. They did not go back the way that they came. One Direction! And they left out another direction. And although I know that's talking about geography, but spiritually when we come in contact. Whoa! We come into his presence one way! We leave from his presence. We come in contact with Jesus as a sinner. We leave out of his presence forgiven. We come in contact with Jesus unrighteous. Man, we leave from his presence righteous.

in contact with his presence guilty. We leave out of his presence justice. out of his presence! Give him glory and- Somebody praise him for leaving another way. I left from Jesus another way. Y'all playing with me. I know it is to go presence heavy and come out of his presence with joy. I know it is to go into his presence confused and come out of his presence with clarity. Somebody give him praise that we come out of his presence.

different way than the way we came in We don't leave his presence to stop. We don't leave his presence the same. Can I get one praise out of you? I want somebody. No, hold on. Because I gotta get this out of me, but I don't want to be by myself. Former knucklehead from Queens and Suicidal. I want us to give Jesus praise for The fact that once our path intersects with Jesus, our whole life goes in another direction. Now give him praise for that. Somebody praises!

He sent my life in another direction. Another direction! Another direction! We met you one way. And send you a different Praise him Frank. Man, he I met Christ one way. He sent me out a different way. Me out free. Let me outse. Encounter the resurrected savior. Man, he sends you out a different way. Some of us knew where you was when he found you and what you were doing when he found you and where you was in your mind when he found you. Sent you another way! Change the directory of your tire!

Elder Eric. The trajectory He took you from the streets of Philly. a line Alina.

State of And when they had departed, behold Joseph, stay there, Frank. In a dream it said, rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Yeah. Until the death of Harold. Again God engineering the This is from Hosea chapter eleven, verse one. Then Herod verse 16 When he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became very furious and angry, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem of all that region.

Two years old and under, according to the time he had ascertained from the wise man. So since I can't find I'm killing all Genocide. This is rejection to the extreme utter degree. Verse 17. This was fulfilled. Watch. Look what it says. And verse 18, right? So Herod did that, and this was fulfilled by the prophet Jeremiah. A voice was heard in Rama, weeping loud in lamentation. Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because there were no more.

So Herod's slaughter fulfilled prophecy. A double reference from Jeremiah's time and this time. Roman soldiers snatching babies out of arms and piercing their throat their knives through these babies, mothers crying because their babies are being put to death as they serve. For the Lord Jesus Christ, Herod is killing every child. Two years families is being ruined and destroyed. Rachel, who was the daughter of Jacob, represents the mother of Israel.

And she represents the cries and the tears of women who saw their children put to death because of the rejection. This is what happens when evil people rule. It's why we should pray for our leaders. And the last couple verses, but when Herod died and he died a very vicious death, his body was filled with maggots. He had pain. He died a very painful, slow death. The angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel.

For those who sought the child's life are dead. He rose, that's why obedience is important. Because you fulfilled the God's will over your life when you're obedient. Took the mother, he went down to Israel. Last two verses, and I'm gonna pray. But when he heard that Archelaus, who was the daughter or the son of Herod, was reigning in Jude Judea. And worn in a dream he went to the district of Galilee, Lazverse. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth.

Prophecy, prophecy, prophecy. So what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled. That Jesus would be called a Nazareth. You can't find that verse in the Old Testament. It is an unrecorded prophet. Nazareth, I've been there. It's a tiny little ghetto town on a hilltop. It was a Roman garrison. It was a despised place. Jews didn't like that place. It was like the basement of the whole area. It's like the worst place in Atlanta. And this is the place that Jesus grew up.

In a shabby, ran down, despised town. So despised that when Philip brings a man named Nathaniel said, Come and see the king, Jesus of Nazareth, he says, Nazareth. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

I love how Jesus was raised in Nazareth. For theologians call something the Nazareth principle. How God takes the foolish things of this world and uses them to confound the wise. How he'll choose people who are the least likely. Men and women who people say would never be used by God, not that teenager from the vibe, not Not that man from Carrollton, not Not that wealthy person who's far away from God, not that poor person from the country, not somebody from Mississippi.

How God called his son from Nazareth. Because he does not choose as the world chooses. Shakiah. But God has a way of choosing those people. Kina. Who the world will pass over. I love how he don't have to look at the external or the background. Or the family tree or where you was from. That some of us men are in Christ and have no business being in Christ. And your whole life is a testimony. Of the glory of God. The choosing of God, the favor.

Of God, the grace of God, the majesty of God, the wisdom of God, the mercy of God, the wisdom of God. I know I'm not the only person that has thought himself I am not worthy to be called son or daughter for where I came from, what I did, where my mind was. My heart, I'm not worthy, but I'm so thankful that God doesn't need my sense of worthiness. for his choosing I'm gonna take that college kid from Clayton State and use him to write songs that change the whole world. What a poison.

name and use her to write songs that change the whole world. I just thank God for his choice of you before the foundation of the world. And although Jesus was persecuted and rejected, everything we see in his story is the affirmation of God in the midst of rejection. I would say to all of you who've been rejected by men. But affirmed by God. I don't know who that's for. I just somebody need to hear that in the spirit. Just that might be a tattoo for somebody. Rejected by men.

Affirmed by God. Somebody take that for yourself. Rejected by family. Affirmed by God. Rejected by someone but affirmed by God.

We respond to God like the Magi. We search for him. We find him. We worship him. We open up our treasures, our life to Him. We let him send us out a different way. He edges our name in the annals of history forever. Rejected but affirmed. This Game of Thrones. Between Herod and Jesus, that the only throne he really wants, the throne that matters most. The throne that he needs to transform your whole life. The throne of your heart. Let me finish by saying this. You have no idea. What God will do.

with a throne that's completely surrendered. To him, I want to repeat this. You have no idea. वोड़ वोड़ दो With a throne that's completely surrendered to him. The best way to win the Game of Thrones is. is to just surrender. The best way to win this Game of Thrones, I see y'all standing in the back, is just surrender. Watch. You don't gotta be afraid. Watch what Jesus will do. With a surrender throne. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Let me pray. Go back, Frank. Go back.

Stay right there. Nobody move. Nobody move. Eternal God and of a wise father. I pray over every throne. Those thrones God are Dagons, all these other things we love more than you. Keeping us from the best that you have for us. I pray right now over these, my sons and daughters, my brothers and sisters. That you will topple every idol that sits on our throne. That we would willingly surrender. In this game. Not to be afraid. You shall not reject us or mislead us.

You have our absolute best interests at heart. I pray for the one watching me right now in cities across the country that we will surrender our throne to you and not be afraid. That you would conquer these thrones. How about that? Conquer these thrones. When we're going to be able to do The battle for these thrones was That these lives may be radically transformed by you, that you would write our story. We've met you today, and may we all go out a different way.

In Christ's name. Don't move. Lift your head. There are men and women in this room. Listen to my voice. Because you already know who you are. You felt uncomfortable during parts of this message because you do not belong to Jesus and you know it. You have gone. But you don't belong to him.

You've been to conferences, but you don't belong to him. You got one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world. Some of you you're standing on the doorstep of the kingdom. Your life could be changed forever. Jesus is not after your stuff to hurt. He's after your heart to transform you. Today could be the beginning of the rest of your life. The greatest step you will ever take.

For the greatest thing you will ever surrender is not just your time, your throne of your heart. He wants to rule over it that he may transform you. It's the greatest step any human being. For me, he conquered my throne when I was suicidal over a toilet seat in a bathroom. November 2003 changed my life forever. My name is recorded in heaven. If I die, I will not spend one day in hell. I will wake up in glory. Here is the gospel, my brother, my sister. I'm talking to you.

You are born a sinner and you've committed sin. God's laws. Guilty of the laws of a holy God. You've cheated, stealed, lied, lusted. If you die in your sin, you're gonna be separated from God. For all eternity, you said, preacher, I don't believe that. Die and find out it'll be too late. You're not ready for hell, it's forever. But God, in his love for you, my brother, for you, my sister, sent the king. The Lord Jesus Christ who died a brutal sacrificial death in your place.

He took upon himself all of your mistakes, all of your sins, all of your wrongdoing. And the scripture says, if any man would call on the name of Jesus, repent and put their faith in him, not just church and Jesus. promises you will be saved, rescued, forgiven. You'll be made a brand new man, a brand new woman. All your sins will be wiped away. You will have a heavenly father who's on your side and you could talk to him about everything until the day you die. This moment is for you.

This moment is for you. You said that's me, preacher. I'm not going to hide another day. I want you to pray for me. I want to see who I'm praying for. Nobody can't see you. It's just between you and God. I'm gonna count the three. If I'm talking to you, nobody can't see. When I say three, I want you to throw your hand in the air and keep it there so I can see you. I already see hands going up. One, the king is calling. I see hands going up. The king, Jesus, the king is calling you.

Two, your life is about to be changed. You're about to meet him one way and go out another way. Three! Throw your hands in the air, leave it there. One, I see that hand. Two, I see that hand. Three. I see that hand. Four. I see that hand. Five. I see that hand. Six. Seven. Eight, keep it there. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. 19, I see you in the back. 20, I see you. 21. 20. I see you, brother. 23. I see you. 24.

Twenty twenty-five, twenty-six, I see you. Twenty-seven. Twenty twenty eight. Twenty eight. 29 30 I see you 30 I see you 30 I see you 31 I see you I see you. Ah 32 in the back. I see you. You don't gotta be afraid. Nobody can't see you. Nobody can't see you. 30 33. I see you. 33. I see you. 33. Thirty three. Thirty-three. Thirty-three. Thirty-three. 33. Jesus died at the age 33. Thirty three. All of you, all 33 of you, my brothers and my sisters.

With your own mouth. You know what? Let's pray with them so they don't have to be silent. I want you to just, I want you to talk to God. The prayer won't say the sincerity of your heart. Just cry out to the Lord. He can hear you. Say, Lord. Forgive me of all of my sin. All of my wrongdoing. I repent. I turn. I put my trust and my faith. And you. And as Savior. Now Father in the name of Yahshua. I pray over these thirty three men and women.

Maybe somebody watching me right now is Or someplace in the land I pray over them. sealed for the day of salvation. I pray that their eyes would be opened. Well feel your I pray you will give them a love for you, for your presence, your word. God, they will know you deeply and intimately that you would walk with them for the rest of the days of their lives.

I pray, God Lord, you would make them wise unto salvation. And that you begin to fill their hearts right now with joy. Their names have been recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life, their sins have been forgiven. And Father, you said when one sinner repents, all of heaven returns.