Pathway to Victory

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Hey podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress.

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Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm.

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Glad to study share God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program.

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On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

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The wise men were wise enough to search for a king. They were wise enough to search for a king. The essence of wisdom is searching for truth. And anyone who is searching sincerely for the truth will always end up at the feet of Jesus Christ.

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Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, for thousands of years, philosophers and other great minds have wrestled with the meaning of life. But for as many books as have been written on the topic, the answer really isn't as complicated as you might think.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals that for a few ancient magi, finding the truth was as easy as following a star in the sky.

But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

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Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. This is an exciting week for Pathway to Victory and people like you who love the Bible. We're sensing a groundswell of renewed interest in God's Word, especially among young people. God is at work, and the timing couldn't be any more perfect because our country needs revival. America needs men and women whose hearts are soft toward him. And America needs discerning people of God who are willing to stand up for truth and decency. You and I both know that we cannot accomplish these disciplines without God's help.

And it's one of the many reasons I'm excited to send you the brand new leather-bound Pathway to Victory devotional for 2026. Rich with God's timeless wisdom and reflections from my heart, I've written this devotional to guide you each and every weekday during 2026. It's an invitation from me to walk together in obedience to God's Word. I'm ready to send you this volume, more than 500 pages in length, when you give a generous gift toward the matching challenge that's active right now.

Perhaps you've heard we're the recipients of the largest matching challenge in our history: $7 million. So right now, every dollar you give to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory is automatically doubled until we reach that amount, having twice the impact on our country and the world. Now's the time to invest in the matching challenge so that we can bring light and life and hope as peacemakers and truth-tellers to our nation. Can I count on you to respond generously before the looming deadline on December 31st?

Alright, it's time to get started with today's important study in Matthew Chapter Two. I titled my message, "Wise Men Still Seek Him."

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Well, they appear on our Christmas cards. They are the subject of some of our most beloved Christmas carols. Many times you see them in nativity scenes standing next to Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

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No, I'm not talking about Santa Claus and the reindeer. I'm talking about the wise men. You know, the wise men are the most enigmatic, the most mysterious of all of the Christmas characters. They appear out of nowhere. We really don't know much about them. But as we're going to discover today, of all the players in the Christmas story, perhaps it is the wise men who are most like us. Because they represent the first non-Jews, the first Gentiles who ever came to Jesus Christ. And in their search for Jesus Christ and their response when they found Jesus Christ, they illustrate for all of us the essence of true wisdom in life.

If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Matthew chapter two as we discover why it is that wise men still seek him. Matthew chapter two. And when we come to Matthew chapter two, we fast forward past the birth of Christ several months, perhaps even up to a year. And that's where our story picks up in Matthew 2:1. Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem. The magi. That's who the wise men were. They were referred to as the Magi. The word magi refers to a special class of men who were skilled in astronomy and in astrology. Interestingly, they did believe in one God, the Magi. But they believed one way you worship him is through the occult, through sorcery, through magic. That's where we get our word magic from the magi, or magicians. It all refers back to the Magi.

Not only were they skilled in astrology and astronomy, but they were experts in the area of mathematics and agriculture and many other sciences. In fact, they were so wise that if you were in the east, you could never become a king without having mastered the knowledge of the Magi and being crowned as king by the Magi. They were the king makers of their day. Now, that's important to our story, as we'll see in just a moment. And it explains Herod's reaction when he heard the news of the Christ child. So you've got these Magi arriving in Jerusalem saying, Verse 1 says they were saying that indicates a continuous action. They didn't just ask one time. They kept on inquiring of everyone around them.

Verse 2: Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. Now, we'll talk in a moment about where they came up with the idea that there would be a Christ, a Messiah. It's very interesting. We'll come to that in a moment. But not only did they know there was a Christ coming, they were looking for a sign. And apparently, it is this star that led them to believe that the Messiah had arrived. Now, commentators try to explain what this star was. I've seen all kinds of explanations. Some people believe it was a comet that appeared in the air. My own belief is this was the Shekinah glory of God that was leading them. It was the same Shekinah, the same light of God that led the Israelites in the Old Testament. It was that same Shekinah glory that enveloped the shepherds on the hill when the angel announced the coming of Christ. I think that's what it was.

But don't miss the point. Whatever it was, it was a supernatural act of God that led these wise men, these magi, to Jesus Christ. Now I want to stop here and make a very practical point. You know, one of the questions I'm asked all the time is, Pastor, if you really believe that Jesus Christ, faith in Christ is the only way to salvation and there is no other way to him, what about people all around the world who have never heard of Jesus Christ? How could God rightly condemn them to hell because they never have heard of Jesus? Now let me make something clear. The Bible is clear. There is no other way to God than faith in Jesus. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Remember when Jesus knelt in Gethsemane, he said, Father, if it be your will, let this experience, the experience of the cross pass from me. He said, Lord, if there is any other way, make it known now. But heaven was silent because there was no other way.

Listen to me. If there's an opportunity for people to come to God other than through faith in Jesus Christ, then the death of Christ was totally unnecessary. The way we know there's one way is not just by Jesus' word, but what he did. He gave his life because there was no other way. Well, then how can people who have never heard of Christ come to him? Look at the wise men, the magi. When God saw these men who sincerely wanted to know God, he was willing to do whatever it took to bring them to faith in Jesus. He was willing to put a star in the sky or whatever it was to lead those people directly to Jesus Christ. And he does the same thing today. When God sees a man or woman or boy or girl anywhere in this world who really wants to know him, you can trust that God will do whatever it takes. God is much more interested in their salvation than you are or I am. That's the kind of loving God we serve.

And by the way, sometimes he'll use a miracle like a star. Other times he uses other types of miracles. I mean, our forefathers 200 years ago would have thought it was a miracle that you would have images and sound invisibly going through the air, through television and radio, or through the cable. That was unheard of. That would be a supernatural thing to them. I think God has given us the Internet. He's given us radio and television in these last days to make the gospel known to everybody we can. And aren't you glad to be a part of a church that seizes that opportunity? And God is using it in all 195 countries in these last days to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what the story tells us. God wants to redeem people, and he's willing to lead anybody to a knowledge of Christ who truly wants it.

They wanted to find Christ to worship him. They said Herod wanted to find Christ, but for an altogether different reason. Look at verse three. And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. When he heard that there might be a king of the Jews coming, he was troubled. That word in Greek means agitated, stirred up. And not only was he stirred up, but all of Jerusalem was stirred up as well. You know, when we think about the Magi and we see them portrayed in Christmas pageants, what do we see? We see three of them, don't we? Did you know? There's no reason to think there were just three. I mean, the reason we say three is because there were three gifts. But it doesn't mean there were only three magi.

And what do we see them portrayed as? These old men with beards and funny looking hats, and they're riding on old broken down camels, moving at slow motion speed, you know, to the tempo of the music with "We Three Kings of Glory." That's our idea of the magi. There's nothing in the Bible that indicates that truth. The truth is because they were aristocrats and because they were king makers, they didn't come in on camels. They probably rode in on high-speed Arabian horses or Persian steeds. They came from the east and they didn't come alone. They would have traveled, as one Bible scholar says, with a group of soldiers with them and servants with them. When they entered Jerusalem, everybody knew somebody important had arrived. The kingmakers had come looking for the king to anoint. And no wonder Herod was scared. He was scared first of all because he didn't want his position taken. He was on shaky ground with Caesar Augustus already, who had appointed him as king.

And not only that, if you had these soldiers coming in from the east with the magi, it meant a coming invasion was on the horizon. Maybe they were looking for the king who was about to overthrow Herod. And Herod couldn't afford a war right now. His soldiers were outside of Jerusalem. They were stationed up and down Israel conducting that census that Caesar Augustus had ordered. And that is why Herod and the residents of Jerusalem were stirred up. And so verse four, gathering together all of the chief priests and the scribes of the people, Herod began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said, King, that's an easy one. Seven hundred years ago, the Prophet Micah in Micah 5:2 said he was to be born in that tiny, nondescript little dusty village, Bethlehem, six miles south of here. That's where he is supposed to be born. So when he talked to the magi, Herod said to them, now you go to Bethlehem and when you find him, find all the information out you can about him and come back and report to me so that I may go and worship him too. Sure.

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He had a motive for wanting to find the Christ child, but the magi weren't aware of it at that time. Later on, remember, the angel appeared to them just like he did to Joseph and said, "Don't come back to Jerusalem, go another way." And so they headed to Bethlehem.

Look at verse nine. "And having heard the king, they went their way. And lo, the star which they had seen in the east went before them until it came and stood over where the Christ child was." And look at their response in verse 10. "And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." Matthew was at a loss for words to describe the joy they felt when they found the Christ Child. As one writer says, he just piles superlative on top of superlative. They rejoiced. They rejoiced exceedingly. They rejoiced exceedingly with great... I have to use the word again... joy. That's all Matthew could think of saying. That's how happy they were to find the Christ Child.

Notice they came to the house where they were. They were no longer in the stable, telling us that some months had passed, perhaps a year had passed when they came to the place Christ was, and they brought gifts with them. Verse 11 tells us the late James Montgomery Boice points out some interesting aspects about these three gifts.

First of all, the offering of gold. There is probably a practical aspect to this gift. Remember, God was about to send Mary and Joseph and Jesus to Egypt to protect them from Herod. This gold very well could have been the means of their livelihood for the time that they were in Egypt. So God brought them gold through the Magi.

Secondly, the offering of frankincense, or incense. Remember, incense was used in the worship in the Tabernacle. Later in the temple, it would be mixed with flour and wheat offerings—not the sin offering—but the flour and the wheat offerings, providing a pleasant aroma that would come up from the sacrifice, signifying that God was pleased with the offering of his people. Of course, Jesus Christ was going to be the ultimate offering to God for the sins of the world. But by bringing him incense aroma, it was as if the magi were saying, "You, Jesus, are going to be the most pleasing offering to God ever. Your entire life is pleasing to God because it's lived with perfection." That was an appropriate gift for the Messiah.

Gold, frankincense, but this final gift, myrrh. They brought myrrh. That was a strange gift to bring to a baby because in Jesus' day, the primary use of myrrh was as a preservative for a dead body. It would be like you going to a baby shower today and bringing with you as a gift for the baby, a miniature casket. Imagine what reaction you would get from the parents when you did that. But that's exactly what they did, because they were saying, "Here is a baby that was born to die." That was his purpose in coming.

Through the gifts the magi brought, they were showing the deity of Jesus, the acceptableness of Jesus to God the Father, and the sufficiency of Christ's death for our sins.

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What application can we derive from this story? For us, what does this mean to us 2,000 years later? Again, let me go back to the late Dr. Boice and point out and expand upon two principles I find from this story about the wise men.

First of all, the wise men were wise enough to search for a king. They were wise enough to search for a king. Remember I asked the question earlier, how did the wise men, these magi, even know about the God of Israel? And having a son who would come and die for how did they ever get that knowledge? If they were in Babylon or in Persia, how did they get that knowledge?

Think about Babylon that was later taken over by the Medo-Persian empire. Think about Babylon. Who was in Babylon? Do you remember? Remember not only the Babylonians, but the king Nebuchadnezzar invaded Israel and he took Daniel captive, and some friends of Daniel, and later all of the residents of Judah for 70 years. Remember the story in Daniel, chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream and he wanted who to interpret it? The Magi, the wise men. And he said, by the way, you better get this right, because if you don't, I'm going to have you torn limb from limb. And so they gave it some extra attention. They couldn't come up with the right interpretation.

Remember, it was Daniel who came up with the right interpretation. And it so pleased the king that Daniel specifically asked him to spare the lives of the Magi, the wise men. Daniel immediately became a hero to the Magi. And I believe, knowing Daniel, he used that place of influence to share with them the truth of scripture about the God of Israel and about his promise of a son, not just to save Israel, but to save all who would believe in him.

Daniel was a hero, and so was his teaching. And it was passed on from generation to generation until that present day of Magi. They knew there was a Christ coming. And when they saw the sign, what did they do? They said, this is it. We've got to go search for him. We must find him. If he's here, that's the only logical thing to do. If there is a savior of the world who's gonna take away my sin and ensure eternal life, for me, the only wise thing to do is to do everything I can do to find him.

And so they laid aside their religion, their tradition, their heritage to go search for the king. That's what wise people do. And that's true today as well. The essence of wisdom is searching for truth. And anyone who is searching sincerely for the truth will always end up at the feet of Jesus Christ. Always.

You know, in February of 1804, then President Thomas Jefferson sat in the White House one evening and he had two copies of the New Testament in front of him. He had a sheaf of paper and he had a sharp razor. Thomas Jefferson proceeded to go through the New Testament and cut out every reference that suggested Jesus was the Son of God. He cut it out. He took what was left, the teachings of Jesus, pasted it on those pages, had them bound for his own Bible. He called the philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth his own Bible that presented Jesus not as the Son of God, but as a good moral teacher.

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Thomas Jefferson wasn't searching for the truth. He was searching for his own truth. Thomas Jefferson wasn't searching for the real God. He was searching for the God of his own imagination. God said in Jeremiah 29:13, "And when you seek me, you shall find me, when you search for me with all of your heart."

If you are searching today for meaning in your life, if you are searching for the answer to life, death, and eternity, that search will always bring you to the feet of Jesus Christ. The wise men were wise enough to search for him. And secondly, they were wise enough to worship the King. They not only searched for the King, but they were also wise enough to worship Him.

The Bible says that when they arrived at the home and saw the baby Jesus, they didn't study him. They didn't debate about him. They didn't say, "Well, we'll wait and hold our verdict to another day." No, immediately they fell down on their faces and worshiped Him.

When you come to believe in your life that Jesus is really who he said he is, he's not just a good moral teacher, he's not just a religious leader. He is the Son of God who came and died and rose again so that you can have eternal life. The only logical response is to accept his gift of salvation and to dedicate your life to following him, whatever the cost.

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What was true 2000 years ago is still true today.

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Wise men still seek him, and when they find him, they worship him with.

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All of their hearts.

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Yes, even in 2025, wise men still seek him. And my friend, I'm so pleased you took the time to join us for today's pathway to victory. Your presence says a lot about your commitment to God's word and your desire to follow Jesus with all your heart.

Let me remind you that I've written a daily devotional to help you follow him throughout 2026. Every page was penned with you in mind because I'd like to be your Daily Companion throughout 2026. You can request the leather-bound Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional when you give a generous year-end gift. We've printed our devotional in a larger font so that it's easier to read.

Remember, the Matching Challenge is active right now, and every dollar you give will be automatically doubled in size. But here's the best part: when you give generously to Pathway to Victory, you can have every assurance that God will use your investment to touch a life for Him. We know that's true because of the thousands of calls, emails, and letters we receive.

For instance, I just saw a note from Linda, who listens in Virginia. Linda said, "Pastor Jeffress, your teaching has blessed me with the knowledge of heaven and given me more peace and anticipation of my going home to heaven one day."

So I'm inviting you to extend your generosity toward listeners like Linda, who, because of your partnership with Pathway to Victory, have a renewed sense of hope. Now's the time to give. The days are fleeting. Let's do this together. Here's David with all the details.

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Today, when you give a generous year-end gift to support this ministry, we'll send you a copy of the brand new 2026 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional. To request your copy, call 866-999-2965 or visit our website at ptv.org. When your gift is $100 or more, we'll also include the teaching series Celebrate the Savior on DVD, video, and MP3 format audio discs.

And right now, because of our Now Is the Time Matching Challenge, any gift you give will be doubled in impact. Call us toll-free at 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. You know, a lot of our listeners prefer to write, so here's that mailing address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins inviting you to join us again Tuesday for a message called Stop and Smell the Manger right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible, and right now your special year-end gift will be matched and therefore doubled in impact thanks to the Now Is the Time Matching Challenge.

Take advantage of this opportunity to double your impact before the deadline on December 31st. To give toward the matching challenge, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.