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Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Merry Christmas to everybody. It's such a joy to have you all here.
to celebrate the birth of our Savior together. Number 429 is where we begin tonight in your hymnals. Number 429, Hark the Herald Angels sing. Hymn number 429.
We'll lift up our voices together on that first noun. Number 429, Hark the Herald Angels sing. Glory to the Lord, you are King. Number 429. Look it up now.
Hark the Herald Angels sing. Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy wild. God and sinners reconciled.
Joyful all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies. With angelic hosts proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark the Herald Angels sing. Glory to the newborn King.
Christ by high is heaven adored. Christ the everlasting Lord. In time behold Him come. Offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see. Veiled in heart and deity. Jesus' men with men to dwell. Jesus our Emmanuel. Hark the Herald Angels sing.
Glory to the newborn King. Will the heaven rinse of peace. Hail the Son of righteousness. Light and light to all He brings.
Rest with Him and give His praise. While He lays His glory by. Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give the second birth.
Hark the Herald Angels sing. Glory to the newborn King. From His eye all nations come. Fix in us like humble home.
Rise above His concrete sea. Cruise in us with serpents dead. Adam's likeness now in faith. Can't find image in its place.
Hark the Herald Angels sing. Glory to the newborn King.
We thank you for sending your son to be born and to die for our sins and to pay for our salvation, Lord. We just ask your blessing upon us as we remember that tonight.
We just ask that you be with us as we open up your word tonight and learn from the preaching. Just feel pastored with your Holy Spirit helping to preach with power and unction tonight.
And that we may be attentive to the preaching and all that's said and done. We'll give you the honor and the glory that you deserve for it. We'll thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen.
426. I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Hymn number 426. 426. I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old familiar carols play. Number 426. Sing it out on that verse now.
I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeat. Of peace on earth, good will to live.
I thought how as the day had come, the bells, praise of all Christendom, had rolled along the broken swamp of peace on earth, good will to live.
And in despair I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth, I said, for hate is strong. Then pause the song of peace on earth, good will to live.
Then feel the bells more loud in me. God is not there, nor God be sweet. The wrong shall fail, the rising veil. With peace on earth, good will to live.
They'll bring it singing on its way. The world revolved from night to day. A voice, a chime, a chance. The one of peace on earth, good will to live.
All right, this time we'll go through our announcements together. If you don't have a bulletin, slip up your hand nice and high. We'll get to you with one. On the inside we have our service times. Sunday mornings at 1030 is our preaching service. Sunday nights at 6. Wednesday nights at 7.
We've got our soul winning times listed there below, as well as salvations and baptisms. Across the page is the report about the online soul winning marathon. This was where they're doing the video chat software on the Omi TV.
And six soul winners worked for four hours and had 26 people saved. So that's a pretty cool technology that they were able to use to do that.
And then below that, we've got the list of expectant ladies. Please pray for them to have a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery. On the back, of course, we had a great time caroling. And with the Christmas cookies, thank you to everyone who participated.
We've got some exciting news about Micaiah and Isabella getting married on January the 18th, so mark your calendar for that one. We don't have the time yet, but it's going to be right here and everybody's invited.
And so you just need to clear off the whole day, people, all right? Just to make sure that you don't miss this thing. So that's Saturday, January 18th right here. There will be cake, fellowship, punch, etc.
And then we've got Pastor Aaron Thompson coming to preach in January on the 22nd. So that's a Wednesday night. Something to look forward to there. Special Wednesday night.
And I believe that that is about it for announcements. Let's go ahead and tally up the soul winning from the last couple days. Going back to Monday. Anything from a Monday?
Okay. Got it. Anything else from Monday? How about Tuesday? Anything from Tuesday? Okay. Okay. All right. And then today, Wednesday. Anything from today? Anything else from today? All right, very good. Keep up the great work on soul winning. With that, let's sing our next song. Come lead us.
All right, you should find the insert in the front of your hymnal. We'll start with O Come, O Come Emmanuel. If you don't have an insert, you can raise your hand and we'll sing it together. On that verse, O Come, O Come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel. Sing it out together.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel.
That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appears. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel.
Shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, thou rod of Jesse, bring thine own from Satan's tyranny.
From depths of hell thy people sing, and give them victory o'er the grave. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel.
Shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, thou grace, bring calm and cheer. Our spirits, by thine advent year.
Disperse the gloomy cloud of night, and as our shadows would to fly. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel.
Shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, thou deed of David done, and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe the way that leadeth on high, and close the path to misery. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel.
Shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, O come, thou Lord of high, move to thy tribes on Sinai's high.
In ancient times it's been of the law, in cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel.
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Flip that sheet over and we'll sing together, O Holy Night.
Long live the world, in sin and ever fighting, till he appears and the soul spells his word.
A thrill of joy the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
All on your knees, O give the angel voices.
O night divine, O night when Christ was born.
O night, O holy night, O night divine.
Let by the light of faith serenely be, when glowing bright by his cradle we stand.
Over the world a star is freely gleaming. Now come the wise and the holy at last.
The King of Kings, play thus in lowly danger in all our trials, for to be our friend he knows our need.
Are we? This is no stranger. Behold your King.
Behold in lowly pain. Behold your King.
Behold in lowly pain. Truly he taught us love for one another.
His law is love and his gospel is peace.
Change shall be great. The slave is our brother, and in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hands of joy and grateful chorus raise we, with all our hearts we praise his holy name.
Christ is the Lord. O praise his name forever. His power and glory evermore.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
We'll read our Bibles to Revelation chapter number 12. Revelation chapter 12, as we always do, we'll read the entire chapter, beginning in verse number 1.
Follow along silently with brother Corbin Brock as he reads Revelation chapter 12, beginning in verse number 1.
Revelation chapter 12.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.
And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pain to be delivered.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and had cast them to the earth.
And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto God into his throne.
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was there place found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.
He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice, saying in heaven, Now has come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitors of the earth and of the sea, for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child.
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Dear Father of Heaven, please fill the path through your spirit. We thank you for sending your son Jesus to die and pay for all of our sins, to be born in this world, and to redeem us.
And we thank you very much. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Amen. Revelation chapter 12 is not typically the chapter that you would think of when you're reading the Christmas story, quote unquote, when you're reading about the birth of Christ.
But, actually, it is about the birth of Christ. As you're reading through the book of Revelation, it's kind of jarring when you get to this chapter because you're reading about all these end times, events, and prophetic things that are off in the future.
And then, all of a sudden, you get to this description in chapter 12 about the birth of Jesus Christ. And it's kind of written in this very cryptic language.
But there's a really great truth that I want to bring out of this tonight and kind of compare this with some of the other scriptures on the birth of Christ about why Jesus Christ came to this earth.
Why did God actually become flesh and dwell among us? What was the purpose? Of course, we know the famous verse. John 3, 16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
And so, Jesus Christ ultimately came to this world for us, for people, for us as human beings.
Now, let's go into this chapter here, Revelation chapter 12. It says in verse number 1, And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.
And she being with child, so she's pregnant and she's in labor, she's with child, she cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and beheld a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads.
And so, we have these two entities. On the one hand, we've got the woman, and then on the other hand, we've got the great red dragon.
And of course, this is very symbolic language. It's not literal because the woman's clothed in the sun and has the moon under her feet and everything.
So there's a lot of symbolism here. But on the one side, you have the woman, and then on the other side, you have the dragon.
And here's the thing about the dragon. As we go through this chapter, it's going to stop calling him the dragon, and it's going to actually call him, at one point, the serpent.
Like, if you look at verse 15, for example, and it talks about the serpent persecuting the woman.
And so, the serpent and the dragon are interchangeable. These are both representative of Satan, the devil.
And if you think about this battle between the woman and the serpent, this actually goes all the way back to the very beginning of the Bible.
So it's like the Bible has come full circle. Keep your finger here in Revelation 12. Go back to Genesis 3.
So you've got, right at the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis chapter 3, enmity between the woman and the serpent.
And then, in chapter 12, we're basically seeing that conflict resolved once and for all.
Look, if you would, at Genesis chapter number 3, verse 15. This is a really famous verse because it is the first real clear promise of the fact that Jesus Christ is going to come and be the Savior.
Genesis chapter 3, verse 15 is the first time this is prophesied. It says, I will put enmity, and he's speaking to the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel.
So there's a prophesied seed of the woman. You know, one day, the woman is going to have a son, right?
And obviously, it's going to be many, many, many generations, and thousands and thousands of years are going to go by.
But ultimately, that son is Jesus Christ. The seed of the woman is Jesus, okay?
And the Bible says in Galatians chapter 4 that Jesus was made of a woman, right?
Jesus Christ is the son of man because he is a human being born from a human mother. Of course, he's the son of God because she's a virgin.
But Jesus Christ is the promised seed of the woman that would be at enmity with the serpent's seed.
So there's a battle between the woman and the serpent.
Now, the woman is Eve in Genesis chapter 3, and obviously, she represents all of humanity because she is the mother of all living, right?
Every single person that's alive is descended from Eve.
And so really, the enmity or the battle or the strife is really between the devil and humanity.
And it's really between the children of the devil and Jesus Christ and humanity on the other side.
And so if you stop and think about it, you know, Christ is on the side of humanity whereas the devil hates humans and wants to destroy them and wants to just take as many people to hell with him as possible.
He doesn't love us. He doesn't do anything good for anyone. Even his followers are just useful idiots that ultimately are just going to be discarded when he's done with them.
And so it's funny. When we go out and evangelize and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, a lot of people are adversarial toward us, right?
And maybe they're an atheist or they had a bad experience with Christianity or a bad experience with church or whatever.
And then they'll be antagonistic toward us and they'll think that we're their enemy, that we're the bad guy.
But in reality, what they don't know is that we're actually on their side, right? And Christ is on their side.
We're trying to save them from the devil's snare because the devil wants nothing more than to just destroy them.
And so in Revelation 12, with that in mind, understanding that conflict that started all the way back in Genesis chapter 3 where Satan tempts Eve to eat of that forbidden fruit.
And then Eve, of course, gives it to her husband Adam and he eats. And then when God is punishing them and cursing them, God tells the serpent,
I'm going to put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed, and he will bruise your head, right?
Jesus will bruise ultimately the serpent's head and the serpent will bruise Christ's heel.
It's sort of like if you stepped on a snake, right? You know, obviously it's going to hurt the snake more than it hurts you.
Even if the thing bites you while you're stepping on it or something like that, right?
You're still ultimately the one who's winning when you're stepping on a snake's head.
And so the idea is that, yeah, Satan and his minions, of course, they crucified Jesus Christ. They killed the Lord of glory.
But it doesn't matter because after three days, he rose again and got the ultimate victory and he crushed the serpent's head in that way.
So look at Revelation chapter 12. It says in verse one, there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of 12 stars.
And if you remember, I said that this woman represents all of humanity. The woman basically represents the human race.
Jesus is the son of man, right? And so it starts with Eve, who's the mother of all humans, and then Jesus is born as a human being.
And it makes perfect sense, this description, if we understand the woman represents all of humanity.
Because if you think about the woman that's clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 12 stars, it's kind of a description of the planet Earth, if you think about it, right?
Because the Earth is clothed in sunlight or bathed in sunlight. And the Earth has the moon under her feet in the sense that the moon is controlled by the Earth and not vice versa, right?
The moon is going around the Earth, and so the moon in that sense is subservient to the Earth, right? So the moon is under her feet, and then upon her head a crown of 12 stars.
And of course, throughout the course of the 12 months of the year, every month the sun is in a different star constellation, often called the zodiac.
Obviously we're not into all the stupid astrology like horoscope mumbo jumbo about that, but just from a purely astronomical perspective, you know, the sun is just moving through 12 different constellations throughout the year.
And so again, you can just see this as the Earth, you know, humanity, the human race. God so loved the world, right, that he gave his only begotten son.
And it says, she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth and pain to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, seven crowns upon his heads.
And of course, this dragon is later in the chapter identified as the serpent, Satan. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and it cast them to the Earth.
And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Now this, of course, we find back in the gospels about the birth of Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter two, because in Matthew chapter two, if you want to just flip over there real quick, we can quickly glance at that story.
In Matthew chapter two, we find that when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, look at verse number one of Matthew chapter two, 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 these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he 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, and the land of Judah, 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 privately 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 you found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also.
And of course we know he's lying. He is really a tool of the devil, right? King Herod is this evil minister of Satan who wants to destroy the baby Jesus.
And so when they come, the wise men from the east, with the news that the king of the Jews is born, you know, instead of being excited about that or thinking it's a good thing, the Bible says that Herod is troubled and Jerusalem is troubled.
It's like they just want to stick to the status quo. You know, they like Herod. They like their situation. They just don't necessarily want things to change.
And so Herod is just trying to hold on to his position of power. And so the devil is using that pride and arrogance that Herod has and selfishness to motivate him to want to kill the baby Jesus.
And so just like in Revelation 12, we saw that the dragon is just ready to devour the child as soon as he's born, right? We go back to the gospel and we find that story where Satan literally wants to murder baby Jesus as soon as he's born, right?
As soon as he's born, boom. We got to find him and kill him. And so the wise men, they finally do locate baby Jesus and they worship him. They bring him the gold, the frankincense, and the myrrh.
And then they're warned of God in a dream to go a different way home and to not go by King Herod, to not tell him where the child is.
And so once Herod realizes that they're not coming back, he ends up sending forth a decree to just kill all the children in that region of Bethlehem from two years old and younger just to make sure that he gets the baby Jesus, that he kills the Messiah, that he kills the king of the Jews that's born there.
But of course the way that Jesus escapes is because Joseph has a dream that tells him that he needs to flee into Egypt and so before Herod ends up killing all those people, Joseph has already fled to Egypt with baby Jesus.
And it's interesting to note here how King Herod ends up just murdering a bunch of innocent babies but ultimately he doesn't accomplish anything. He doesn't accomplish the goal whatsoever.
And here's the thing, the devil, that's his whole life story if you stop and think about it because the devil is constantly hurting people, harming people, deceiving people.
He's a murderer from the beginning. He came to steal and to kill and to destroy. He's just constantly wreaking havoc and harming but at the end of the day, he is going to lose.
We already know how the story ends. He's going to spend eternity in hell. So will all of his followers and he ends up ultimately accomplishing nothing but he just does a whole bunch of destruction in the process of trying to stop the gospel, trying to stop Jesus Christ, trying to stop humans from being saved.
He's ultimately not going to win but yet he does all this collateral damage along the way.
And so that's what we're referring to in Revelation chapter 12 when we talk about the dragon being ready to devour the child as soon as he's born.
So go back to Revelation 12 if you would. It says in verse 5, she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne.
Now again, this is just quickly breezing through the story because we pretty much just skipped a lot there. It's like Jesus is born and he's going to rule all nations with a rod of iron but he's caught up unto God and to his throne.
Obviously what happened in between is the entire life of Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection. Then he ascended up to God and is seated at the right hand of the father.
And ultimately he's going to have a second coming where he comes and rules with a rod of iron and he will be in charge of the entire earth. He will rule the entire world with a rod of iron and there will be peace on earth for 1,000 years.
And then I'm going to skip some of this just for sake of time but as we go down here in verse 7, there's a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. The dragon fought and his angels.
What we need to note here is that the war is not between God and the devil, okay? Because the problem with a fight between God and the devil is that it's just too easy.
I mean God is God. God has all power. God could just snap his fingers and the devil would disappear right now. God could send the devil to hell whenever he wants to.
The devil only exists because God allows him to exist, okay? Which is why in the end the devil is going to be bound in hell for 1,000 years. He's going to be chained up, put in hell, locked up for 1,000 years.
And then at the end of the 1,000 years, God's going to release him from hell so that he can go out and deceive the nations one last time. This shows that obviously the devil only exists because God allows him to exist.
He's only out deceiving people because God allows him to be that way. So there's not this battle between God and the devil and somehow it's like, oh man, who's going to win?
Because the devil is a created being whereas God is the creator. God has all power and even now, today, while the devil is out doing all of his evil and mischief, he's only allowed to do what God allows him to do.
Because if you think about in the book of Job, he wants to attack Job and God's putting limits on him. He's saying, hey, you can't touch Job's body or you can't kill Job.
He's making rules for him because the devil is on a leash and the devil has always been on a leash and always will be on a leash.
But there's this battle in heaven between Michael, the archangel, and his angels are fighting against the devil and his angels. There's a spiritual battle that's going on and if you think about it, Michael and his angels, they are for humanity.
And the devil and his angels are against humanity. You know, it's really, it's not like God is fighting for his own existence or that God's fighting to make sure that he's in charge of heaven or something like that.
I mean, God is already well established. He is all powerful, all knowing, omnipresent. He's the creator. He's the beginning, the end, the first, the last. His position is not in jeopardy at all.
You know what's in jeopardy is mankind, humans. First, there's the big picture of just humans in general. I mean, the devil just wants to see everybody damned. He wants to see all humans killed, all humans damned, right?
And Jesus Christ, on the other hand, came to save humanity. That's the fight right there. Okay, because again, this isn't about God's position or the existence of God. This is about men, humans.
And so there's the big picture of just Christ saving people in general. But then for each individual, there's a battle going on too, right? And we're involved in that battle every day, right?
Trying to reach people with the gospel of Christ. We're trying to recover people out of the snare of the devil. We're trying to preach the glorious gospel of Christ to people so that they can be saved and go to heaven.
Every time we win someone to the Lord, that's a victory over Satan, okay? And Satan is out there just trying to deceive everybody and get as many people to go to hell as possible.
And he wants to stop us from fulfilling our mission because we're pulling people out of hell constantly and he wants to stop us. That's why he's constantly fighting against us.
He'll go against us personally and try to get us backslidden, try to get us out of church, try to get us in sin, or try to get us discouraged and try to get us to want to quit, right?
And we have to push through and keep going. That's the struggle so that we can keep on fighting for what? The souls of men, right? The unsaved, getting them saved. We want to reach people with the gospel.
And so the devil is the enemy of all humanity. And so we see Michael fighting for humanity. And this goes back also to the book of Daniel chapter 10.
You know, it stated that Michael is for Daniel and for Daniel's people and so forth. He's fighting on his behalf. And he's also fighting on humanity's behalf in Revelation chapter 12.
But look what the Bible says after, of course, Satan is defeated in this battle. It says in verse 9, the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.
He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with them. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accuseth them before our God day and night.
So what is the devil doing? The devil's in heaven speaking against humanity, right? He's accusing Christians. He's accusing the brethren. He's speaking against people, okay, in heaven.
He's been cast out and it says that the brethren that he's accusing, verse 11, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives under the death.
And so we see that we overcome those accusations of the devil by the blood of the lamb. So the devil can sit there and bring up all of our sins because guess what? We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
It's not a single person who has not sinned or has totally stopped sinning or something. All of us, unfortunately, sin. And the devil is up there accusing us before God, but we're saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
And so those accusations, they can't stick, right? It'd be like if some prosecutor were bringing charges against you and then the judge ends up throwing it out and the case is being thrown out. Why?
Because Jesus Christ has already paid for our sins. It's already taken care of. It's already settled. And so therefore we overcome those accusations of Satan.
Not because we didn't do the stuff we're being accused of, because look, let's face it, when the devil accuses us of stuff, many times it's probably stuff that we really did, right? Because we are sinners. We actually are guilty of some things.
But it's Christ that's going to bat for us. The Bible says if any man sin, we have an advocate, right? Advocate is another word for a lawyer.
If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he's the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only, watch this, but also for the sins of the whole world, right?
And so we have Jesus Christ, the advocate, the lawyer, going to bat for the entire world, right? God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
And then we have the devil who is really just hateful of everyone and wants to kill and destroy everyone. He especially hates the brethren. He especially hates those who are saved Christians. That's who he wants to fight the most.
And so it says in verse 12, therefore rejoice ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down unto you having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
And of course, that's talking about in the end times when the devil is going to be cast down and do all of his final mischief before finally being cast into hell.
And so it says in verse number 17, the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
So we have the devil, first of all, fighting against all of humanity. And then ultimately, in the very end, when he has a short time left, going against the remnant of those who are saved that believe on Christ.
They have the testimony of Christ and especially those who are serving him fervently.
Now if you would go to Luke chapter 2, this is of course the most famous Christmas passage that people typically turn to about the birth of Christ.
Luke chapter number 2, Matthew, Mark, Luke chapter number 2, and I want to point out some things in Luke 2 that tie in with what we saw in Revelation chapter 12.
So in Revelation, or excuse me, Luke chapter 2, it says in verse 7, she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
And they were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord showed round about them.
And they were sore afraid, and the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.
And here's the key, which shall be to all people. Which shall be to all people.
So you see that the Gospel, the birth of Jesus Christ specifically, is good news for all of mankind.
It's just some people don't know it, some people don't realize it, but yet Christ is born for everybody, right?
He didn't just come for certain people, we're not Calvinists around here, we don't believe in limited atonement and that, you know, Christ just picked out certain people to die for or something.
I don't know, he died not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world. He tasted death for every man.
He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He will have all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth.
And so the good news of Christ being born is actually glad tidings for all people.
It's kind of funny how many people celebrate Christmas and they're not even a Christian.
And yet they're celebrating Christmas, it's like, what are they even celebrating?
And of course our world has come up with all these, like, alternative things of, like, I don't know, Santa Claus and Reindeer and Kris Kringle and Frosty the Snowman and I don't know what else there is, but all those little claymation stories and everything.
You know, just to kind of try to give you, I guess, something to be excited about besides the birth of Christ or think about the birth of Christ.
But really it's almost like all of humanity is just kind of acknowledging Jesus without even really knowing it or thinking about it just by saying it's the year 2024.
You know, 2024 years since what? The birth of Jesus Christ. Right?
And then it's like, oh, we're all celebrating Christmas, you know, and even these hardened atheists, right?
It's like they're celebrating the birth of Christ and they don't want to admit it or realize it, but they kind of are if they celebrate Christmas, whether they like it or not.
It's funny, I saw a comic the other day, it was a picture of the Flintstones celebrating Christmas.
And it said, wait a minute, what are they celebrating, you know?
Because they're supposedly, like, prehistoric or something.
So I left a comment on there, I said, well, you know, they're looking forward to the cross and we look backward to the cross, you know.
So, you know, the Flintstones are looking forward to Jesus being born.
And I'm kidding, of course, but I'm just saying how, you know, Christmas is just everywhere, right?
It's something that even now, and it used to be that, you know, non-Christian countries didn't do it, but now even non-Christian countries are getting in on Christmas.
Even Buddhist countries, I mean, I don't know, is India getting in on it? I bet they probably are.
Yeah, they're getting in on it. Okay, at least one Indian's giving me a yes on this one.
But, you know, here's the thing, even places like Japan, you know, now they're getting into celebrating Christmas, right?
And here's the thing, you say, well, what right do you have to celebrate Christmas?
You don't even believe in Jesus. But hold on a second, though. Jesus' birth is for them, too. They just don't know it yet.
And hopefully they'll get saved later. And then they can actually understand what the birth of Christ is even all about.
But if you stop and think about it, Jesus Christ being born is good news for everybody, right?
Because it's good tidings which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord.
And, you know, we could really say that to anyone. Christ is born for you. Christ died for you.
Christ wants to save you because Jesus died for everybody.
And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, laying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.
And again, the birth of Christ is the ultimate act of goodwill toward men.
It's God reaching out and bridging the gap between himself and humanity, right?
There's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, right?
In order for us to be saved, in order for our sins to be redeemed and forgiven, right?
Jesus Christ is God actually in the flesh, which, you know, how can we, you know, understand how God could become a human being?
And I just preached about it a few weeks ago when I preached a sermon on the humanity of Christ,
how he actually had a real legitimate human experience.
And he actually went through the things that we go through.
And so it's goodwill toward men. It's the exact opposite of the devil's attitude toward man,
which is what, what, maleficence toward, or malevolence. That's the word I'm looking for.
You know, malevolence toward men, right? Ill will toward men.
And here's the thing. We as God's people, if we're going to follow in Christ's footsteps,
if we're going to be Christian, then we should really strive to have goodwill toward men as well, right?
We should not be hateful toward the people of this world in general.
We shouldn't just have this kind of people suck kind of attitude that some people have, right?
We should, and look, and look, let's face it, people do suck, but at the same time,
but at the same time, we all suck and have come short of the glory of God.
You know, that's not exactly what that verse says, but it says something like that.
You know, you could say people suck. It's like, yeah, but aren't you glad that God didn't just go,
oh, people suck, throw this one in the trash, make a new one. What did he do, right?
He actually said, hey, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.
Now, of course, to have these wonderful Christmas verses, you have to have a King James Bible
because all of these egghead, modern scholar, fake pseudo scholar boneheads
are constantly corrupting our Bible and twisting it and changing it,
and they're even changing some of our favorite Christmas verses, if you can imagine that, right?
So, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.
One of the most beloved verses in the Bible, but now the scholars are saying,
well, actually, you know, there are some early manuscripts that do not contain this phrase.
Well, I'm sorry that you're using a broken manuscript, you know, because, you know,
it's funny, we got a whole room full of people there and everybody's Bible's got it.
You're the one with, you know, you dug up some stupid broken manuscript
and you're using a piece of trash that was found in a monastery trash can
instead of using the preserved Bible that's been passed down.
And so, you know, yeah, that is part of the Bible. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
But not only that, even this famous verse, peace on earth, goodwill toward men.
You know, I guess Hallmark didn't get the memo that now all the modern versions have twisted this one up, too.
And now they say, well, goodwill toward those with whom God is pleased.
So instead of it being a statement about God's goodwill in general toward humanity
by sending the Savior to die for the whole world, I mean, I guess the Calvinists are gonna like this new version
of Luke 2.14 where it's just, well, you know, it's just goodwill toward those with whom he's pleased.
This is what the modern versions do. It's funny, I was in a group online of, like, people studying biblical languages
and, of course, a lot of these people are being brainwashed by this modern textual criticism philosophy
rejecting the doctrine of preservation and the fact that God's word has been providentially preserved and kept pure in all ages.
And this guy said, you know, I've had all this education learning about all this stuff,
but he said, I just can't bring myself to let go of the traditional reading of Luke chapter 2, verse 14,
goodwill toward men. He's, you know, he said, I just can't, I just can't let it go.
And I'm thinking to myself, yeah, that's the Holy Spirit talking to you, buddy,
and maybe you should listen for all the rest of the verse in the Bible, too.
I'm glad that you're listening on Luke 2.14. Maybe you should listen on
Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.
Maybe you should listen on all of these other verses, all of these other wonderful verses in the Bible
that modern versions are attacking, removing, casting doubt on, and so forth, right?
How about, for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.
Sorry, I just can't let it go. I'm just hanging on to it.
Yeah, hang on to it, because it's true. It's real.
And so there's goodwill toward men. Let's jump down, if you would, to verse 27 of Luke chapter 2.
Luke chapter 2, verse 27, he came, this is, of course, Simeon, who's a devout man, who's waiting for the coming of Christ,
and it says in verse 27, he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to do for him after the custom of the law, then took him up in his arms, so he grabs the baby Jesus,
and he blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thou, thy servant, depart in peace according to thy word,
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. And here's the key, right?
So he's holding the baby Jesus saying, mine eyes have seen thy salvation, right?
And by the way, he wasn't looking at your good works.
He wasn't looking at your church attendance, okay? He wasn't looking at a baptistry font, okay?
He wasn't looking at any of the things that people think are going to save them besides Jesus, okay?
He's looking at Jesus saying, mine eyes have seen thy salvation, and then here's the key thing.
It says in verse 31, which thou has prepared before the face of all people, right?
All people, right? Because remember, Jesus is being sent as the seed of the woman, humanity in general.
There's a war, there's enmity, there's strife between humans and the devil,
and the people that are on the devil's side, they are just foolishly working for their own enemy and their own destruction,
and they don't realize that when we come to them, we're their friend, we're on their side.
We're trying to just get them to realize that salvation is so easy if they would just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
And so he's a light to lighten the Gentiles, verse 32, and the glory of thy people Israel.
And so he's for the whole world, he's for the Jews, he's for the Gentiles, right?
Free, bond, rich, poor, barbarian, Greek, Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
He loved the world, God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him.
Here in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
And so we need to realize about the birth of Christ that it is an event that is on behalf of all people.
Good will toward all men, the Lord Jesus Christ came motivated to save humans, to save people, to save us.
He came for us as people, those of us that are already saved, and those that are not saved, he came for them too.
And this is why we need to preach the gospel to every creature and get as many people saved as we can so that we can get them to understand that the birth of Christ is for them too.
Because it's good news for everybody.
Now look, if you look at it from the wrong way, you can see, oh, Christ is coming with a rod of iron, he's just coming and he's coming to destroy and to punish and everything like that.
But here's the thing, all you gotta do is just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, and then you're on the Lord's side.
But if you don't, if you end up rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, you end up on the devil's side.
And you end up fighting for the wrong team.
Say, well, I'm just neutral. Ultimately, if you're neutral, you end up getting inducted into the devil's army.
And here's the thing, he doesn't love you. He's not fighting for you. He doesn't care about you.
And he's going to ultimately lose and be defeated. He's just like Herod, foolishly trying to hang on to power.
He's gonna lose power. But he just ends up murdering a bunch of babies along the way.
What did that accomplish? He didn't even kill the person that he's trying to kill.
And that's how the devil's plan works. It's just a bunch of carnage and a bunch of death and misery, but he's not gonna achieve his goal.
He loses. Christ is the winning side. And so that's what the birth of Christ is all about.
God's love for the world, God fighting for humanity, Michael the archangel fighting for humanity.
It's about Jesus Christ, the son of God, the savior of the world, offering salvation to every single person.
And if he so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Meaning, obviously, the brethren, but also we should love the lost enough to give them the gospel.
Let's pray and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word.
Thank you so much for the service that we could have tonight to think about your birth and think about what we need to do as Christians, Lord.
Please bless us as we finish out this year. Help us to finish this year strong, reading our Bibles, praying, witnessing to the lost, soul winning, Lord.
Help us to stay in church and let 2025 be the greatest year that our church has ever seen and that we personally have ever seen when it comes to our walk with you.
And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen. Amen.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, take your hymnals, please. Go to Hymn 431.
Silent Night. Hymn number 431. We'll sing this out together.
Close out our Christmas music this year. Hymn number 431. Lift it up now.
Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon virgin, mother and child. Holy in her so tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night. Shepherds waiting at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven upon. Heavenly hosts sing hallelujah.
Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born.
Silent night, holy night. Son of God, love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face. With the dawn of redeeming grace.
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.
Silent night, holy night. One red star bled Thy light.
With the angels let us sing Hallelujah to our King.
Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born.
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.