Raising Children Under Tyranny - Part 2

I want you to turn with the word to the word of God with me to Matthew chapter two where we're going to read here this morning and I want to go to part two of raising children under rising tyranny. We started with this last Sunday morning as we looked at Moses and how that tyrant, that pharaoh desired and attempted to annihilate an entire generation. Well we want to go to part two here, raising children under tyranny part two, reading from Matthew chapter two this morning. It says now in verse one, 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 that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard those things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him and when he had gathered all the cheap priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born and they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written by the prophet and thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah and not are not the least among the princes of Judah for out of these shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod when he had called the wise men inquired 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 ye have found him bring me word again that I may come and worship him also and 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 and when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy and when they 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 frankincense and myrrh and being warned of God in a dream that they should return that they should not return to Herod they departed into their own country another way and when they were departed behold the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream saying arise and take the child and his mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him when he rose he took the child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which is spoken by the Lord by the prophet saying out of Egypt have I called my son then Herod when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men was exceeding wrath and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coast thereof from two years old and under according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet saying in Ramah was there a voice heard lamentation and weeping and great mourning and Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they are not but when Herod was dead behold an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt saying arise and take the young child and his mother and go into the land of Israel for they are dead which sought the young child's life and he arose and took the young child and his mother and came into the land of Israel and when he heard that Archie Elias did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod he was afraid to go thither notwithstanding being warned of God in a dream he turned aside in the parts of Galilee and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth that he might be it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the he shall be called a Nazarene will you pray with me here this morning as we come to the word of God we want to hear what the spirit of God is saying to us in this hour in this generation with everything politically happening around us we want the mind of God we want the will of God and we want the word of God pray with me father we do thank you God that we're not a people deserted in this hour amidst conspiracies agendas amidst all that is happening in our world we know that the Lord Jesus Christ the one born of the Virgin Mary sitteth on the right hand of power in majesty and great glory he is sovereign he is in control and he is watching over his church he is the head of the church and I thank you you do have a plan in this hour we are in a unique hour a unique prophetic age we are in a unique time in your prophetic calendar we you have chosen us to be here at this time for a specific reason and I pray open up our hearts especially the fathers and the mothers Lord God I pray for them Lord God will you speak to them in this hour Lord God will you charge them with the authority of scripture Lord God will you speak to their hearts that they might raise up children to meet the hour that we are living in we do pray for godly homes Lord God homes filled with the Holy Spirit of God and guarded by the truth of scripture we pray that you speak to us this morning give us a word in season let the Spirit of God speak to your church let us have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying unto the churches in this hour in Jesus mighty name we give you all the glory Lord Jesus for salvation and redemption and sanctification we love you with all of our hearts amen amen I'm coming to this second part of raising children under rising tyranny and I believe this is something so vital we need a look at at this hour we are in an hour where we're what got to raise physical children and spiritual children as we begin to see tyranny arise not just in one region of the world not just in one nation or one continent we are seeing a united global rise of tyranny this is utterly unique in world history and it is unique in church history I believe we're living in a very unusual and a unique hour in history I actually believe this is a prophetic hour and that there is a specific people who are alive on the earth right now who are going to have to raise physical and spiritual children in a climate of rising tyranny this is not outside of God's will this does not nullify God's plan it does not stop his purpose but actually God has chosen that in this environment of rising tyranny of government becoming stronger of new legislation coming in of an attack on children in this environment God has a divine plan this is my message this part two raising children under rising tyranny I want your hearts to be gripped this morning with God's divine plan and purpose for you and I in this hour you may not have children that that is fine or you may be parents this message is for all of us coming to Matthew chapter two I believe we see the scenario very similar to our own hour to this time in history I believe Matthew chapter two has a very important message for us I want to point out three things our characters in this chapter two as we look at chapter two of Matthew we are seeing an era a time in history where there was rising tyranny tyranny marked the government of the hour it marked the politics of the hour it marked the entire environment of that hour and yet there were parents who are going to have to raise children in that environment do you realize in Matthew chapter two and verse one we have here Jesus Christ the child born in Bethlehem second of all we have Herod the king who was marked by tyranny and then third of all we have the wise men coming from the east these parents of this little babe this child were looking on at this time as they began to behold this babe called Jesus as they looked at Herod the governor of their nation and they watched as these wise men came from the east to do obeisance to the Lord Jesus Christ what a remarkable hour in history and I believe this chapter has more to say to us than you could ever imagine but first of all here I want you to see in this chapter a tyrannical family in other words a political family that was in place in this hour when Christ was born as a baby you see in this chapter Matthew two we read of all the babies under two years old in Bethlehem being killed by the hand of Herod I want to show you here that we have the testimony in this chapter of a tyrannical family that was in place politically affecting the laws the regulation the military power social life even the medical system of that day there was a tyrannical family in place and it was called the family of Herod here in Matthew chapter one we read about Herod the king the king it mentions here is Herod the great he was given the title the great because of the greatness of his effect on the politics of his day the actual bible that we hold in our hands the gospels and the book of acts mention several family members of the Herods we don't have time to go through it all here but let me point out three specifically first you have Herod the great second you had Herod Antipas who was his son and then you have his grandson called Agrippa so when you read Herod in our new testament it's not talking about the same person or individual it's talking about several family members that were part of an entire Herodian dynasty this was an entire family that gained influence financial power and political power over all the affairs of the nation and the region this was a remarkable family and it was a tyrannical family you see in Matthew chapter two we have this tyrannical system in place first of all for the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ as a babe second it was in place for the birth of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ so the physical birth of Christ and the spiritual birth of the church took place under this Herodian dynasty and it had gained power not but through righteousness but through wickedness let me tell you about Herod the great that it talks about in Matthew 2 that was used of the devil to try and kill Jesus as a babe before he was a man before he done any miracles before he preached before he died on the cross as a babe you see the devil always comes to destroy God's plan at its very beginning where you see the woman given birth you see the serpent there ready to devour the child that's how this always worked the devil knew that there was going to come a deliverer to Israel in bondage he didn't know his name would be Moses but he knew there was a child in that generation it's the same here with Bethlehem and the birth of Christ the devil knew this is a unique time that some child in that generation is going to bring deliverance he knew that and he had a plan working behind the political system to annihilate the youth of children in that small community of Bethlehem this vessel that the devil had chosen and used had ultimate power in the nation politically and he was God's he was Satan's vessel to bring forth wickedness now who was Herod the great he was born of an Arab family his mother was actually a princess from the local region of Edom he was an Edomite born of the seed of Esau the Edomites were a low related to Israel very distant relatives Esau was the brother of Jacob so they were related and yet the Edomites become one of the great enemies of Israel they had no rights no inheritance in the nation but here you have Herod the great rising up to begin an entire dynasty that was going to cover the birth of Christ the ministry of Christ the birthing of the early church and as the gospel spread out this entire dynasty was in place but Herod the great was the first great leader when you go to the history books you read that he was a great schemer he was a briber he was corrupt he was a charmer of all men and he was a murderer he killed competitors that were competing for his throne he killed his enemies and he even killed his wife we're told in the history books that he killed at least three of his sons he killed the best of his 10 wives he had 10 wives in total through his life for 37 years he was called the king of Israel the king of Jerusalem this is what he was called and here Herod the king we see that he is in a vital political position of power and authority over the economy over the architecture of that generation he had this sovereign power under Rome and yet he was a very corrupt and vile man but that isn't all that we have to say about him he was one of the most glittering and gifted figures of the political scene of the of that century when Christ was born he dominated it if he was alive today he would have been in the G7 he may have been the least significant in the G7 but he would have been there as one of the most notable men of the entire known world of that generation he was a man counted best friends with Mark Anthony if you know your history he knew Augustus Caesar and in fact Augustus said about Herod the Great he said I would rather be a pig in the house of Herod than to be one of his sons that's how dangerous it was a pig in Herod's house would stand more chance than one of his own children that's what Augustus Caesar the first emperor of Rome thought about Herod the Great he was best best friends with Mark Anthony and he was also the sworn enemy of Cleopatra of Egypt he was a notable character and in fact a very likable character he was a familiar and popular figure in the cities of Rome as well as the city of Athens in Greece he was admired he had a charisma he had a charm with other world leaders and he was the ruler of this Middle Eastern area he was a jand of a man who had claims to greatness as well within the land of Israel when he come to Israel the temple there in the center of the city it was in ruins utterly neglected the land had economic problems it had wars and troubles met many problems in in that great city and yet when Herod the Great come he began to build he rebuilt the temple to be the most spectacular and sought after building in the entire Roman Empire he was an absolute genius he was gifted in his thinking he was notorious as a builder in the nation he also built the city of Caesarea he built an entire seaport and for the very first time made the Jews as seafaring people he made them rich he stirred up the economy he was an absolute genius at making the nation function lifting it up out of its poverty lifting it up to a place of admiration amidst the nations and yet he was a vile and a wicked man he also built a city on top of Masada if you know about that he literally built it in the side of the rock palaces and even as his designers and workmen said it's impossible but he said we're gonna do it and you if you know your history later when the Romans come to attack the Jews many uh two generations later it was almost impossible for them with their entire army to take over Masada it was a remarkable thing he was an amazing builder he established the entire nation he was talented he was skillful he was charismatic he was attractive he was decisive he was influential but he was a disaster in his personal life he was violent in his claim to power he would destroy anyone who tried to claim the throne who tried to steal his crown as I said he had 10 marriages you know his first wife was a stranger uh a Samaritan and he had a little boy from her but you know what for his political intrigue he wanted to marry a Jewish princess of the royal line and so he sent his previous wife away with his son and married this new Jewish princess this is the sort of man he was he went through 10 entire marriages during this time killed his own sons his brother-in-law his mother-in-law um all of this within the range of gaining power and holding power you know he was a tyrant he was an evil man he was a wicked man and he died a terrible death you see you and I think that we live in a terrible hour of rising tyranny do you realize men with power it's very hard for them to handle give them power give them money give them influence and the greater the power and influences the more likely it is to corrupt their hearts and destroy them this man Herod the Great become very suspicious even of those that slept in his own bed the children he raised up in his own home he was suspicious of them and with good reason I can assure you but finally died in agony 37 years as the king of Israel even when he lay on his deathbed he demanded the execution of many enemies he was a depraved man a wicked man and everybody knew that he was marked by tyranny his son was called Herod Antipas you'll remember that Jesus uh when Jesus was in Galilee and Herod Antipas overseeing Galilee that Jesus said go tell that fox that's what he thought about Herod Antipas you remember Herod he was the one that replaced Herod the Great and when he was on the throne of Galilee John the Baptist came forth in the ministry and so did the Lord Jesus Christ all this was happening under the second great Herod over Galilee you'll remember that this Herod put John the Baptist to death he loved to hear John preach he trembled under the preaching of he was a very religious man for but a very immoral man and as Salome danced he actually gave John the Baptist's head on a platter what a tragic thing this Herod's family was Jesus even warned in Mark chapter 8 about the leaven of Herod in other words there was an entire way of thinking that came through from this family that affected the entire nation of Israel it was called the leaven of Herod you can be religious but immoral you can build the temple in this in in the city and yet you have no access to the very presence of God well there was a third Herod I just want to mention briefly the grandson of Herod the Great he is the great persecutor of Acts chapter 12 when Peter is put in prison James the brother of the Lord had just been killed who was a great leader in the church and now Peter is in prison it was Herod Agrippa this the grandson of Herod the Great who done all of that he was the great persecutor of the church and yet we're told in Acts chapter 12 that the angel of the Lord smote him and that his body was eaten by worms and that he died oh but yet the word of the God multiplied and the gospel spread in Matthew chapter 2 when we come to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ we have a tyrant on the throne called Herod the Great he is ambitious he is threatened by his own family he annihilates them and in Matthew chapter 2 he is reaching the end of his days he maybe only has two or three years left to live he has reigned more than 35 years as the king of this nation an Edomite but yet a man converted to Judaism he wanted to be accepted in Judaism and yet he wasn't allowed into the temple because of his birth but yet he was a man who marked the nation of Israel do you realize this was a man in power political economic social power when Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus Christ see I want you to see here this morning I believe there's many who as they see the growing tyranny of this hour the strengthening of government laws coming in our lives restricted legislation coming in that is endangering the youth of our nations and the children of our own home as we see all of this come in we can begin to think that God's plan is going to be very small in this hour but I want to tell you that this growing tyranny this establishment that is all around us and it is global and it is strengthening and it is affecting our lives in a very real way I want to tell you for me it is a sign that there is a seed coming forth in this hour that the devil wants to destroy just like the devil wanted to destroy Moses he tried to annihilate all the boy children of an entire nation just to get one here in Bethlehem he was willing to destroy all the children all the boys under two years old just to get that one child I actually believe the devil knows that this is a prophetic hour that there are physical children being born in this hour that are going to see one of the greatest moves of God of any generation this is an utterly unique hour but I also believe there's many being saved in this hour born again into the kingdom this year last year these new converts are coming in and the devil says I want to destroy them we have all of this happening around us and it says here in this first one about the days of Herod these were the days of Herod the great and it was in that hour that Mary and Joseph gave birth to an utterly unique child prophesied about in scripture there were many testimonies that this child was going to come forth at this very time and how God was going to use him it was an utterly unique hour and so when we see growing tyranny when we see Herod the great we know that God has a plan there were those in the nation although the nation was corrupt the temple was corrupt much of the priesthood was corrupt there are those old simons there's an anna in the temple praying and fasting there are vessels of God right across the nation who are looking but they're not in places of prominence or power and if you're not careful you could think that this is the end rather than the very heart of the bringing forth of the plan and the purpose of God that's my first point here from Matthew chapter 2 is a tyrannical family I want you to see this is the hour that Christ was birthed and if you're a new convert born into the kingdom of God in this hour I want to tell you you it's no accident that you're born in this hour if we're bringing forth children in this hour if you have a babe in your arms this morning or a young boy at your feet this morning I want to tell you it's no accident there is a divine plan and purpose for this hour but second of all in Matthew 2 the wise men of the east it says there in Matthew chapter 2 that in the days of Herod when Christ is born there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem there's a second great thing I want you to see here these wise men that came all the way from the east to the city of Jerusalem seeking for the king of the Jews who were these wise men they were the special elite behind royal power in eastern nations in Macedonia in the city of Babylon and all of these places the kings that sat on the throne always had a court filled of wise men you'll remember from Daniel chapter 2 we're told about the wise men that sat in the court of Nebuchadnezzar they were remarkable men of learning and in fact these wise men are specifically the magicians of Daniel chapter 2 they weren't magicians as in doing tricks they weren't that they were philosophers they were priests they were astronomers who studied the stars they were experts in medicine this is who they were they were the wisest of men they were scholars researchers they watched the world scene very carefully they looked at history they looked at prophecy but I want you to see about these wise men they came from the east an environment of pre-paganism they were strangers to the covenants of Israel they were from a pagan system outside of the kingdom of the Lord and yet when these men came to Jerusalem they were in search of something wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and they were seeking for a newborn child it says in verse 2 that that where is he that has born the king of the Jews they came looking for a new king that had been born in that hour do you realize how they found this out they knew there was going to be a king born to the Jews in this hour in this time they said that they had actually seen his star in the east these men of the east that were from a pagan culture had actually turned to the prophetic scripture and I want you to see this very carefully these were pagans who traditionally were caught up in idolatry false gods all manners of pagan knowledge and practices and yet somehow these men from paganism had found their way to Jerusalem seeking for the person of the Lord Jesus Christ they had made great sacrifices they had traveled several hundred miles to come here they had brought very expensive gifts they must have spent years researching studying seeking and here they are they've left nation behind they've left work behind this was their one dominating thing and you know what it happened at this specific hour where we see Matthew chapter two these wise men from the east I actually believe that they'd found the written scriptures here they are looking at the signs of the times to try and discern the hour that they are living in they had the ability to discern the signs of the heavens they saw this star and they recognized the hour that they were living in they had lost confidence in pagan philosophies of these they lost confidence in their gods in their religions but somehow they had found the written scriptures and those written scriptures open to their heart actually revealed that there was a king to be revealed in the days to come and that he would be born in the land of Israel now here we're told that these wise men having arrived in Jerusalem are brought into Herod's palace and they begin to ask where is this king born you see if you're looking for a king where do you look for him you go to the palace in Jerusalem that's the natural place to go if a new king is born surely he'll be the son of Herod one of many of Herod's sons surely that is where he was born it says for we have seen his star in these and we come to worship him do you know what's happened over this past one or two years I am shocked at the wise men from the east that have come seeking Christ you see the pastors and the churches of our generation all across Britain all across Ireland across America and other nations there is a terrible ignorance the people in the church don't know what hour it is they cannot discern the Christ they don't realize he's been born only five miles from the city of Jerusalem and yet these wise men from several hundred miles away have made this long journey they came out of paganism they came out of false teaching and in this hour they said there is a king for us to see you see I'm shocked by these emails we're getting young converts all over the world Australia America South Africa England many other nations born into the kingdom for such an hour as this that email just a week or two ago that message from that lady 30 years in paganism and then the new age and yet in March this year she gets born again she was hard against God she didn't believe this and yet in this hour amidst this world crisis in rising tyranny when everything is pressing in the new agers are waking up and saying this is a prophetic hour we can discern the signs of the times look what the bible says we have seen his star and they come looking for the Lord Jesus Christ and yet when they walk into the palaces of the church when they walk into Zion they're sitting amongst people who do not realize the hour that we are living in they come to worship the Lord Jesus Christ they're not interested in ministry they're not interested in church politics they're not interested in power they say we want to worship the Lord Jesus Christ it says when Herod the king heard these things he was troubled I'm sure he was and all Jerusalem with him remember he's a tyrant with the title of the king of the Jews he has the title given to him by the Romans by Caesar himself he has gained this through money and politics and through game playing and through relationships and through marriages he has gained this title king of the Jews and yet here's these wise men saying we are come seeking for the king of the Jews and it's not you it's a boy that has been born no wonder that Herod was trouble you see they saw his star it says in Numbers 24 17 it's a prophecy given by Balaam about the coming Messiah it says there shall come a star out of Jacob a scepter shall rise out of Israel I believe this was a special star that led these men to Jerusalem I don't believe it was just a star distant in the galaxy far away I don't just believe it was a meteor it had to be more than that it was a supernatural star it was an unusual star that guided them and then once they got to Jerusalem it disappeared from their sight and this star they said it was his star you see they're students of the cosmos of the heavens of the stars and God used it to speak to them and go in search of Christ do you realize how many young men and women in this hour who two years ago they didn't believe in God or a few years ago they didn't believe in God but they started to see the new world order they started to see this plan of tyranny they started to realize there's something going on and as they began to look at this they were led to the Lord Jesus Christ many in this hour you see they went something is going on and they began to look for the star maybe God uses different means to get them there but they'll always come to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ these wise men could discern the prophetic scriptures they had come in this massive journey saying this is the hour this is the very time and yet many in the church cannot discern it here Herod is greatly troubled by all of this and look what he does in verse 4 and when he had gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people together he demanded of them where Christ should be born he gathers all those who handle the scriptures every week he handles those that have studied the scriptures for 40 50 years long he brings in those who have memorized the word of God and the prophecies and the prophets from children he actually brings them in those that handle a word of God every single week he brings them in and he demands where is the Christ the Messiah where is this King of the Jews gonna be born do you see Herod he's a wicked man but he is a religious man he's looking to these religious teachers give me an answer I want an answer from the Bible you know the Bible give me an answer from the Bible he's a man riddled with fear and suspicion with anger and jealousy and bitterness but he does know the Bible's true he does know the prophecies are true he does believe that this King has been born there is a child in this generation that's very dangerous to him he believes there could come a movement that would knock him off the throne so he demands of these experts in the word of God tell me where where is this child going to be born and this is what they responded in the next verse in Bethlehem of Judah you see they knew this they knew there was a king gonna be born in Bethlehem of Judea five or six miles from Jerusalem that's as far yet they never went seeking for him they knew the scriptures academically theologically they handled them they preached about them they talked about them they prayed about them but they never went in search of that king you see I believe that's what's happening in this hour we are watching wise men come from these I mean there is a massive harvest coming out of the new age movement the church isn't even speaking about it but I've spoken about it for a year I'm only seeing a little bit of this but I'm telling you God sovereignly is bringing many out of the east out of those eastern religions out of new ageism they are tired it's empty and they're coming knowing that the prophetic scriptures of the bible are true but when they get to the church so many pastors and leaders are in the church they have this knowledge 30 years ago they used to teach it they used to believe this they know what the bible says but this year in 2021 the pastors the preachers are not teaching bible prophecy they're keeping it hidden it's academic it's in their minds it's in their bibles but you know what it's not affecting the lives of this hour those those wise men from the east will make a long journey in pursuit of the fulfillment of bible prophecy but those just five or six miles away from Bethlehem do nothing with it see these Jews who gave this answer it's Bethlehem for thus it is written by the prophet and thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule by people Israel these same Jews their religious system their synagogues their institutions these very Jews show the place of the birth of the coming messiah and they know the hour and yet 30 years later they rise up as institutions to try and kill the lord Jesus Christ you know there's a lot of people in this hour have more knowledge than you would ever imagine they know what the bible says but they're filled with jealousy and pride and arrogance and bitterness they are looking for ministry and they have been destroyed by these things you see these men knew bible prophecy they had knowledge of the bible they had great religious privilege they had the written scriptures they had a long heritage and they were very close to the area of the fulfillment of these things but it was dead head knowledge what a tragic thing it's being repeated and I try to figure this but I have the answer here on Matthew 2 as I look what's happening over these two years during this covid crisis I see tyranny rising legislation coming in I know the devil knows something is going on something is going to happen in this generation I mean in our spiritual converts and the children we're arising the devil says there's something very dangerous in this hour we are almost at the point of eight billion people in our world maybe the largest the population of people in the world has ever been it is exploded in the last century I mean it is exploded you know what the devil hates that it's a very dangerous time for the kingdom of satan let a revival begin now and we will see more souls one to the lord Jesus Christ than any other time in world history let one revival begin now anywhere in the world I mean a genuine heaven-sent revival and we will see more souls saved in six months than you can possibly imagine it would shake our entire world great revivals of the past have shook our world in six months brought nations to their knees like whales to its knees in six months our god can reveal his mighty right arm again bend the heavens and march through the land the hour is late the days are coming to an end we are in the last generation and I do believe that god has a plan I see rise in tyranny but it's not fully here yet I see the stage of technology being set for the mark of the beast but it's not just in place yet this is a unique hour that you and I are living in it says that Herod when he had privily called the wise men after hearing all of this about where this child is going to be born and now knowing when he's going to be born he inquired of them diligently took them away privately away from everyone else and he inquired diligently what time the star appeared you see he believes this star he believes these wise men he knows this is an unusual hour and he sent them to Bethlehem and said go search diligently for the child and when you have found him bring me word again that I may come and worship him also look at Herod the Great he's suddenly got very religious he believes the bible he believes in stars that have guided these wise men he says that he wants to come and worship this new king of the Jews evil plans often close themselves in religion religion can be a deadly thing when it's used by tyranny by politicians and by the institution of this hour I believe the tyranny of this hour is going to use religion very strongly in the next period of time here's Herod trying to deceive good men upright men men seeking Christ and he's trying to deceive them and act as if he is a worshiper as if he has the same desire as them he is copying their fear of God and he tries to use their good deeds and seeking after this child to further his own political agenda he wants to destroy this child but he's trying to use them be very careful about joining a political system that hates the child in the womb you see that's the hour we've come to we live in a generation where politicians en masse have no respect for the child in the womb be very careful when they put a a very caring veneer on that they don't care about you or I if they don't care about the child in the womb they do not care about you when they begin to say we care about your granny we're bringing in these laws so that you do not kill your granny and we've got to force you to have a vaccination in order to protect your granny they don't care about your granny you care about your granny you love your granny they don't care and they use a whole veneer of care love concern preserving life they have no intention for that listen verse 9 and when they heard the king they departed and lo the star which they saw in the east went before them till it came and stood over my voice is going here as soon as my voice goes my message finishes okay and please bear with me and when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy now here they leave his palace and all of a sudden here is the star again it isn't a natural star it can't be it has to be supernatural and you know what this star is leading them to christ a lot of people in the church saying they're being led of the spirit or they're looking to strange things but it never leads them to christ it usually leads them to the girl they're gonna marry or it maybe leads them to a position in ministry or it promotes them but i want to tell you if a star is leading these wise men it's leading them to the lord jesus christ we read nothing about its color or its size we don't get an explanation you know why this star means nothing it's all about the lord jesus christ they are being led and guided they have come a long distance out of paganism and their hearts are pure and you know what god uses this star he gives them unusual supernatural guidance because he knows their hearts herod is five or six miles from the christ and he cannot find them but here these men come several hundred miles and they're being guided super naturally if men in religion refuse to preach christ clearly in this hour if the pastors will not teach bible prophecy i promise you god will use a star to guide the new agers to the person of the lord jesus christ i don't know what all to make of that neither do i know what to make of this star but i want to tell you it was a star from god that led them to the pre the person of the lord jesus christ this is a very unusual hour notice this star stood still over the house where the young child was notice it's a house they're actually living in a house now and he's not a baby anymore he's a young child this isn't the same time in the same place where the shepherds came there is a time difference here it's a different place and the babe is a different age and it said that this star stood still over this house they knew that they had received heavenly guidance direct guidance from god to come to the christ to become a worshiper of the lord jesus christ what a remarkable thing and they come and they brought in their guests of gold frankincense and myrrh if i get onto these three guests we're going to be here tonight i want to tell you i've got an awful lot to say about these guests these are guests for this generation the new converts and the children around us i believe the gold of frankincense and myrrh there's an entire teaching in there a message from god of what the new converts and our children need in this hour to preserve them this hour now i've got you all hungry like a knife and a fork and a meal ready to eat but saints of god look at verse 12 that night and being warned of god in a dream that they should not return to herod they departed into their own country another way when you make christ you will leave another way you're going to walk in a complete different direction when you truly come to worship the lord jesus christ why is it all the great theologians in jerusalem couldn't find the christ but these men could find the christ but that night so that they don't go back to herod and give him this information you see their hearts are pure they're sincere they're naive they're trusting there's no reason to suspect herod but god supernaturally not only sends a star to guide them but he gives them a dream that night to warn them do not go back to herod and he warns them specifically god is going to protect this young generation the enemy wants to annihilate the converts of this hour he wants to destroy an entire generation of babes in the you know why he knows that out across this world that little babe in the womb there's coming a revivalist there's coming preachers there's coming a generation that believe i believe from the early 90s through to this present time has been a generation that the devil is very scared of that's why all of this is happening now he says this generation there is a seed and i want to destroy it somewhere in this generation is a dl moody a george whitfield a smith wigglesworth there there is going to be an amy carmichael think of all these great saints how dangerous is this hour and yet god warns these wise men don't you go back there i do believe in dreams third and lastly let me finish in chapter 2 and verse 13 and says and when they departed the wise men departed to go home behold the angel of the lord appeareth to joseph in a dream saying arise now this is joseph the adopted father of baby jesus who married mary that very night that night so the lord is warning in a dream the wise men to go back a different way no an angel of the lord comes to joseph in a dream do you realize the angel didn't come to joseph the angel came to him in his dream often the lord reveals his plans through an angel in a dream not just an angel coming to a man or woman but actually coming in a dream with a specific message my third point here is protective parents we've seen a family of tyrants we've seen these wise men from the east but thirdly protective parents joseph was a protective parent he cared about that child he cared about that baby god knew that he could trust joseph and so he sends an angel into his dreams to warn him and listen it says arise take the child and his mother and flee into egypt and be thou there till i bring thee word for herod will seek the young child to destroy him see these protective parents it's very important that they're not so in awe of the temple in jerusalem the building of caesarea and a massada of looking at the architecture the change in the economy the change to politics the lifting of an entire nation that they cannot hear god when god says you need to be very careful herod will destroy your child you see some in the church think this is a health crisis and they trust the government and they say the government would never lie to us our politicians would never lie the un would never lie the world economic forum would not lie who are the world health organization wouldn't lie we can trust them all oh yes we know all of these institutions have joined together to annihilate the babe in the womb they are destroying an entire generation of children but i want to tell you some of these children are going to escape the hand of death and then by met the medical profession you see this generation of leaders you want me to believe that their hearts are pure you want me to believe that we can trust them not only with our bodies but our souls you think that we should believe their motives are pure and that there's no corruption there that there's no conspiracy there was conspiracies last century there's been conspiracies all through world history but not in this hour and that if you say believe in conspiracies you're a nutcase i want to tell you any newsman any news reporter any politician that mocks conspiracies is sinister there's something really wrong look at this third point as we close protective parents joseph and i want to concentrate on joseph here as we close joseph is being given information by the lord to protect his child i believe the lord can give us information to protect the new converts and the christians of this hour i believe god can so speak through this church to warn us to guide us to lead us that we can protect many in this hour i believe that i don't have the ability you don't have the ability but i believe in a god who protects that seed of this generation look at joseph a very unique man protective parents he was a protective father you know what's sad in this hour that most fathers don't think it's a high calling to protect that family isn't it sad they have lost the divine commission to lead that wife to raise that children to protect the family they're no longer protecting the family most men in the church today don't even see that that's far more important than ministry or preaching or evangelism what about the children of your own household many pastors in this hour don't know how to protect the young converts young converts from the east come into the church and those pastors they're harlings they're not shepherds anymore they don't know how to protect them or teach them or guide them or care for them they don't know how to do it anymore what an hour we live in we no longer have protective pastors or protective parents look at joseph i believe he's an example of protective parents and note this carefully joseph the adopted father chosen by god to protect the lord jesus christ as a babe as a child as a young boy he didn't preach one sermon he didn't write one book he didn't write one letter that's in the bible we don't read of him performing one single miracle not one word that he spoke is written in our bible we're told many things about him but none of his sentences is is put there in the bible and again we never again see a mention in the bible until jesus is about 12 and we never see him again he actually gave birth to at least another several children who was this man there's very little i can tell you about him but he was chosen by god to protect this little child fathers protect your children this is a greater calling than preaching any sermon have we lost the reality of a divine call that in this hour certain people have a very special unique calling to raise children when the devil is invading the education system the medical profession the political system to destroy an entire generation of children and to get them ready for the mark of the beast don't you know we need men like joseph once again in the church don't you know we need many of them and yet we think nothing of his calling look at the calling of joseph to marry the virgin mary that marriage was vital in the plan of god he had to marry the right girl he wanted to put her away he was a moral man but god said i want you to marry her this is in my plan he was also a carpenter he taught his trade to his to jesus and to his children he also led his wife on many journeys on the back of a donkey he led them to jerusalem he led them down to egypt he led them back from egypt look at this ministry of joseph it was one of the most important callings on any man's life in world history and yet very few people think that leading a donkey getting married being a carpenter being a good husband raising children is a high calling don't you know the uniqueness it was more important for him to be there married in the carpenter's shop teaching his trade to a young boy that's going to stay there until age of 30 don't you know how important this is leading a donkey make sure that a good donkey can reach egypt very important for you to know that it's all in the plan of god to care for that donkey is it a good donkey do you know how to get them there do you need a gps do you know the direction of egypt you better get them to egypt that's the only hiding place you know he was willing to be misunderstood in his own community and family in order to fulfill god's a plan and purpose for his life and for this child they thought the word of god contradicted his marriage but it didn't and he stood strong through the shame of this whole experience the commission was look after this young maiden protect this young boy and treat this boy as your very own he was a simple man an honest man a hard-working man a just man a god-fearing man and we taught an entire message on him a few years ago as a man under authority what a man what a man it says in verse 14 when he arose he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into egypt and there and stayed there until the death of herod herod is going to die one of these days i wish i could preach to the kings and the governments and the prime ministers and the world leaders here this morning and i would tell them but where there's a day coming when you're gonna die oh yes you can gain power you can murder people and get off with it you can corrupt the nation build great buildings become famous but there's a day you're gonna die and stand in judgment for every hidden sin even the things you've forgotten all the great world leaders are going to stand before god they hid in egypt until herod died you know what was the responsibility of this these parents to hide their child from herod from the political system do not be ignorant of the political system and agenda of the united nations that's trying to re-educate it wants the minds and hearts of your children you must protect these children and maybe you'll have to do it in egypt maybe you can hide your child in egypt faith can do that obedience can do that walking in the will of god you could be right in egypt and it could be the place to protect your child from the death threats of herod it says them herod when he saw he was mocked in verse 16 all of this had transpired he when he thought he was mocked of the wise men he was exceeding wrath and he sent forth and slew all the children that were in bethlehem and in all the coast thereof from two years old and under according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men be very careful of this hour saints of god there is a herod there is a herodian spirit i believe in the church and it's affecting those priests and those scholars in the palace in jerusalem they're absolutely caught up in religion and yet they do not know it's the hour they don't know what are they living in they're got everything to their hand and they don't know they are that they live in herod sent forth soldiers to destroy these children bethlehem this was not a master of tens of thousands of children or hundreds of children bethlehem was a very small community and it would seem that maybe less than 20 children had a die as he searched to annihilate just one child that was going to be called king of the jews he killed all the little boys two years and under in that little village and that little community to get one child he sent the soldiers maybe he said this is for the good of the nation it is medically approved listen it is fda approved i woke up first thing this morning i'd never thought about this i woke up and it was screaming in my ears this very point it is fda approved it has the medical approval upon it that's what was screaming in my ears as i woke up first thing this morning didn't think about it last night and i said i have to put it in here wouldn't have done it otherwise then was fulfilled that which is spoken by jeremiah the prophet three times in this chapter you have a fulfilling a bible prophecy it is a prophetic hour it is an hour in time that has been spoken about for hundreds of years this is the hour of the coming redeemer this is an utterly unique time and i want to tell you the converts that are coming forth in this hour they are a unique generation i'm preaching to them my heart burns for them i am praying for them i i have had to watch those priests in herod's temple with the scriptures and their knowledge and their experience and yet they're dumb dogs they're silent in this hour and i've watched those messengers from the east the new come this is real to me this is real to me god told me over a year ago i had to speak out about the world economic forum and their plan on what they're gonna do god told me to do that i'm in no doubt i believe in dreams i i believe there's unusual cases where god could use a star to lead men out of the new age i believe that but i want to tell you i believe in the prophecies of this and we are here and this is the hour and this is the time some of us preachers have been put here and prepared and made ready for this hour for this very hour and you know what all this time has been preparation for this very hour because it's so important of what the children that we protect the children that we watch over them that we teach them that we guide them and it's so important that we watch over the new converts of this hour i don't want backslidden prophets and harling pastors speaking into their lives we've got to pray that the word of god impacts a new generation of converts and sets them in the right direction saints of god my message is finished here this morning and i pray i really pray god sets your hearts on fire to make you know the hour it's an utterly unique hour and we are here for this hour we are meant to be here don't be scared of rising tyranny don't be afraid you are meant to be here for this hour and you older christians you are placed here you've been prepared for this hour to protect this seed whether it's the baby in the womb or whether it's a new convert that walks in the door we have been put here divinely sovereignly to protect the seed in one of the most important hours in church history let's close will you pray with me here as we close father i thank you for the word of god this morning that you're speaking to us my god it's a real hour in time we're not playing games we're not being foolish we're not being extremist this is an utterly sovereign hour in history we discern the signs of the times we discern the fulfilling of bible prophecy we discern that there's a child being born in this hour that your plan your purpose is coming forth and my god thank you for all those that you're saving out of paganism out of the new age out of atheism out of false christianity out of catholicism and you're bringing them in to worship the lamb because they know that it's the last hour because they know bible prophecy is being fulfilled and will you make us like caring parents that speak the right thing lead in the right direction that watch out for their bodies and their souls father i pray for divine wisdom upon us as a church give us great wisdom give us great purpose of heart lord god grip us oh god that we might even act like that star to bring many to the person of the lord jesus christ that we might be stars shining in the sky of nothing of our own worth but only in that we lead men to the lord jesus christ lord god you said in the book of revelation that your messengers your preachers are stars held in your hand the seven stars of the churches are the messengers that are held in your right hand you have authority over them and we pray raise up preachers in this hour raise up pastors open a great door to the godly shepherds of this hour lord god set them on fire revive them and let the word the prophetic word be in their mouth for this hour in jesus mighty name amen