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you put that over you find the song entitled oh holy night let's sing it on that first verse oh holy night oh holy night the stars are brightly shining it is the night of our dear savior's birth long lay the world in sin and error pining till he appeared and the soul felt its worth the thrill of hope the weary world rejoices for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn fall on your knees oh hear the angel voices oh night divine oh night when christ was born oh night oh holy night oh night divine when by the light a face supremely gleaming with glowing hearts by his cradle he stands over the world the star is sweetly gleaming now come the wise men from glory and land the king of kings laid us in lowly danger with all our struggles born to be our friend heroes are here are we this is no stranger behold the king before his lonely men behold your king before his lonely men truly he taught us love for one another his law is love and his gospel is peace change shall he bring the slave is our brother and in his name all oppression shall cease sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raising with all our hearts we praise his holy name christ is the lord oh praise his name forever his power and glory evermore proclaim his power and glory evermore proclaim alright this time we'll pass our offering plates around as the plates go around let's turn our bibles to luke chapter 2 luke chapter 2 in our bibles as we always do we'll read the entire chapter beginning in verse number 1 luke chapter 2 starting in verse number 1 follow along silently with brother hessar as he reads luke 2 starting in verse number 1 luke 2 the bible reads and it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from caesar agustus that all the world should be taxed and this taxing was first made when syrenius was governor of syria and all went to be taxed everyone into his own city and joseph also went up from galley out of the city of nazareth into judaea unto the city of david which is called bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of david to be taxed with mary as a spouse wife being great with child and so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered and she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn and there 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 shone 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 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 this shall be a sign unto you ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying 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 good will toward men and it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven the shepherds said one to another let us now go even unto bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass which the lord hath made known unto us and they came with haste and found mary and joseph and the babe lying in a manger and when they had seen it they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child and all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds but mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising god for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them and when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child his name was called jesus which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb and when the days of her purification according to the law of moses were accomplished they brought him to jerusalem to present him to the lord as it is written in the law of the lord every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the lord and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the lord a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons and behold there was a man in jerusalem whose name was simian and the same man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of israel and the holy ghost was upon him and it was revealed unto him by the holy ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the lord's christ and 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 he took him up in his arms and blessed god and said lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people a light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of thy people israel and joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him and simian blessed them and said unto mary his mother behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against yea a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed and there was one anna a prophetess the daughter of fanuel of the tribe of acer she was of a great age and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity and she was a widow of about four score and four years which departed not from the temple but served god with fastings and prayers night and day and she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the lord and speak of him to all them that looked for redemption in jerusalem and when they had performed all things according to the law of the lord they returned into galley to their own city nazareth and the child grew and waxed strong in spirit filled with wisdom and the grace of god was upon him now his parents went to jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover and when he was twelve years old they went up to jerusalem after the custom of the feast and when they had fulfilled the days as they returned the child jesus tarried behind in jerusalem and joseph and his mother knew not of it but they supposing him to have been in the company went a days journey and they sought him among their kinsfolk and when they found him not they turned back again to jerusalem seeking him and it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors both hearing them and asking them questions and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers and when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said unto him why hast thou thus dealt with us behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing and he said unto them how is it that ye sought me wish ye not that I must be about my father's business and they understood not the saying which he spoke unto them and he went down with them and came to nazareth and was subject unto them but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man Lord thank you for this opportunity to be here tonight on this Christmas service and thank you for the cookies and the fellowship we had before and I pray that you fill pastor Anderson with your Holy Spirit and I pray that this sermon would bring to remembrance in all of our minds the birth of Christ and it's in Christ's name I pray Amen Amen the title of my sermon tonight is the significance of the manger the significance of the manger one of the things that stands out in this passage is that the manger is brought up over and over again look at verse number 4 of Luke chapter 2 there the Bible reads and Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of nazareth into Judea under the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife being great with child and so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered and she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn and then if you jump down to verse 12 it's told unto the shepherds and this shall be a sign unto you you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger that's the sign unto them then in verse number 16 and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger so there's something significant about the manger right because he says look this is going to be a sign unto you you're going to find him in a manger three different times this specific detail is brought up now what is a manger well the dictionary definition of a manger is a box or a trough in a stable or barn from which horses or cattle eat so it's basically like a little place to feed animals it's a food container is what it is now if you know any French or Italian you know if you want to say like bon appetit in Italian they say mangebene right am I right how'd I do so you say like mangebene and forgive me if I butcher French because of the pronunciation but I think you could say like je vous manger or it means like I want to eat or something so anyway the word for eat in a lot of languages is like mange or mange or something like that because that's what the manger is it's a food container for feeding animals so what's the significance of this well there's several things that I thought of but first of all just the obvious thing that should just stand out to you right away is that God allowed for things to happen this way so that Christ would have a humble beginning obviously it was supposed to be a very humble beginning that there's no room in the inn right the hotel is full and they have to literally stay in essence in a barn right so as the saying goes Jesus was literally born in a barn right he's out staying with the animals I mean imagine his mother gave birth to him in the stables and laid him in the manger out in the barn as it were and so this is a sign of Christ's humility turn to Philippians chapter 2 Jesus had a very humble beginning at his birth while you're turning to Philippians 2 I'll read for you from Matthew chapter 11 Jesus said come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light Jesus said I'm meek I'm lowly in heart Matthew 21 5 says tell ye the daughter of Zion behold thy king cometh unto thee meek meek is another word for humble meek and sitting upon an ass and a colt the foal of an ass so think about this on Jesus Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem he doesn't go riding in on a stallion he rides in on a donkey because he's humble he's showing humility now obviously one of the big lessons we can learn from this is that if Jesus Christ the son of God the creator of the world could be humble we should be able to be humble because obviously he is far greater than any of us will ever be and yet he was able to be meek and humble and it was important to him to have a humble beginning look at Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God you know the Bible tells he was equal with God but he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross wherefore God also had highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father so one of the things that we notice about the birth of Christ is that it was a very humble birth a humble beginning in a stable laid in a manger that's kind of the obvious thing about the manger but go if you go to John chapter 6 because if you think about what a manger is though it's a feeding tool it's something that's used to feed and I thought about how Jesus Christ is the bread of life and that's the sign of him being born in a manger is that Jesus Christ is the bread of life now John chapter 6 is the famous bread of life passage where Jesus teaches this and it says in John chapter 6 verse 26 Jesus answered them and said verily verily I say unto you ye seek me not because you saw the miracles but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled so let me kind of bring you up to speed here in the story Jesus Christ has just fed the five thousand and he fed the five thousand and that was an amazing miracle and he preached unto them for days you know he's speaking the word of God people are listening but a lot of people they came back to hear Jesus to find Jesus again not because of the preaching not because they saw a great miracle or that they believe in him but they actually just want the free meal you know they just want free food I mean they had the fish and chips last time and they want to get it again and so Jesus is correcting them and rebuking them and saying you know you guys are looking for me not because you saw the miracles but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled and he tells them in verse 27 labor not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the son of man shall give unto you for him hath God the father sealed so he's saying look don't just be looking for a free meal and be so interested in the meat that perishes you know get the meat that actually gives you everlasting life now obviously what this pictures is people today they might be just so caught up in making money and just all the physical things that they can earn or the things that they can collect and all the money that they can make and the things they can do in life he's saying look that stuff's all going to perish that stuff's all going to be gone someday what you really ought to be looking for is eternal life you know the bread of life is what you need the meat that doesn't perish and he says the son of man Jesus Christ will give it to you I can give you everlasting life he's saying to them wait then said Dan to him what shall we do that we might work the works of God see when you start talking about everlasting life everybody thinks that you have to work for it isn't that the tendency kind of people's knee jerk reaction when we go out talking to people and ask them hey what do you think a person has to do to go to heaven oh you know you got to go to church you got to keep the commandments you got to live a good life they think it's works so they're like okay okay you know everlasting life okay let's do the work what's the work what do we do to work the work of God Jesus answered and said to them verse 29 this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he had sent he's saying look here's the work you need to do quote unquote you need to believe on me so you don't work your way to heaven by doing good works you just believe on Jesus Christ to be saved the Bible says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life he is the bread of life and he gives you that everlasting life now look what the Bible says in verse number 30 you know they said therefore unto him you know cause he said you need to believe on me right well we want to do the work hey here's the work you need to do you just need to believe on him whom the father has sent so they said well what sign showest thou verse 30 what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe thee what does thou work they're not going to believe you unless you do some kind of a miracle or show us some kind of a sign our fathers did eat manna in the desert as it is written he gave them bread from heaven to eat you know it kind of sounds like they're still just into that free meal they're like hey you want to do a miracle or something like oh I've got an idea Moses gave them manna to eat maybe you could do something like that you know people just are you know they're having trouble finding a good meal apparently so that's what they bring up in verse 32 then Jesus said unto them verily verily I say unto you Moses gave you not that bread from heaven but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven for the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world so who is that guy who's coming down from heaven to give life to the world that's Jesus and he's saying that's the bread of God so Jesus according to this is the bread of God it kind of makes sense to be born and laid in a manger he's put in a feeding place because he's the bread of God he's food right and so he's saying look I'm the bread of God that comes down from heaven and give life unto the world you know what this goes to show that Jesus didn't come into existence 2,000 years ago you know when he was in Mary's womb and born in Bethlehem Jesus has always existed you know he has no beginning and no ending because the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost make up God and God is eternal and Jesus was in the beginning with God and he was God and so therefore this shows Jesus came down from heaven he already was up in heaven he came down from heaven to be born and laid in the manger and so it says in verse 34 then said they unto him Lord evermore give us this bread and Jesus said unto them I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst now this verse right here should make it obvious that you only have to get saved one time because he's saying look if you come to me you will never hunger if you come to me you will never thirst I'm the bread of life so here's the thing once you eat that bread you're filled it's not something that you have to do over and over again it's a one time deal because they don't get it that's why well what's the work we need to do no no no it's not work it's believing it's faith and then they're like well give us evermore of this bread that sounds like a continual thing doesn't it evermore give us this bread no no no it's not an evermore get the context folks they say evermore give us this bread no no no you don't get it once you eat it you'll never be hungry again so you don't need me to give it to you evermore you don't need to eat it again and again you eat it one time and you're done that's the context what he's saying here he's saying if you come to me you'll never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst so notice coming to him and believing on him are the same thing that's salvation eating of the bread of life is salvation drinking of the water of life is salvation verse 36 again more proof that you can't lose your salvation first of all he said you'll never hunger then he said you'll never thirst and then he said him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out so once you're saved you're always saved and then it says in verse number 38 for I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me and this is the father's will which has sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day and this is the will of him that sent me that everyone which seeth the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day pretty clear what we need to do to be saved but we're still clear that we just need to believe on Jesus God's will, the will of the father is that everyone that saw Jesus and believed on him would have everlasting life and would be raised up at the last day then the Jews murmured at him so basically they're kind of grumbling murmuring because he said I'm the bread which came down from heaven because they're thinking of him as just a human being so how can he say that he came down from heaven how can he say that he's the bread of life they don't believe it and they said is not this Jesus verse 42 the son of Joseph no he's not you're wrong, he's not but that's what they thought whose father and mother we know how is it then that he sayeth I came down from heaven Jesus therefore answered and said unto them murmur not among yourselves no man can come to me except the father it is written in the prophets and they shall be all taught of God every man therefore that hath heard and had learned of the father cometh unto me not that any man hath seen the father save he which is of God that's talking about himself he has seen the father because Jesus obviously saw the father he came out from the father verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life so it's pretty obvious what you have to do to be saved how many times did he say it just in this passage he said it what five six times believe believe believe some of you don't believe but those that believe have everlasting life you've got to believe it's all about having faith in Christ he that believeth on me hath everlasting life verse 48 I am that bread of life your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die I am the living bread which came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world so he's saying look if you eat this bread it's a picture right if you eat this bread then you'll live forever and he's saying you know what I'm the bread of life and he said the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world you see when Jesus Christ was about to die on the cross you remember how he had the last supper with his disciples and he took bread and he break it and he said this is my body which is broken for you this due in remembrance of me right he broke that bread as a picture of his body being broken on the cross so when he says here hey the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world he's talking about the fact that he's gonna die for them he's gonna die on the cross his body is gonna be broken on that cross as he dies for the sins of mankind but again they don't get it look at verse 52 the Jews therefore strove among themselves saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat and that's a dumb question because obviously he's not speaking literally here this is like when he said in John chapter 3 you gotta be born again and he says oh so am I gonna go back into my mother's womb and be born again like he thinks he's actually gonna literally be born a second time that's foolishness and this is the same thing like he's trying to teach them about spiritual things and they just keep thinking about food and just keep being carnal with it and just thinking like well where's the food well how's he gonna give us his flesh to eat and they don't get it but what's funny is there's a billion people in this world who don't get it either who today they think this is literal they're called Roman Catholics and they think this is literal and here's my question for Roman Catholics who think that this is literal like you literally have to eat Jesus flesh to be saved okay well let me ask this will you literally never be hungry again? isn't that what he said? he said if you eat of this bread you will never be hungry again and they're like we gotta take that literally okay well then I guess you'll never need to eat again and once you've taken the wine you'll never have to drink again ever but that's foolishness because it's a picture Jesus Christ is not literally a loaf of bread walking around Jesus Christ when he said I'm the bread of life he's saying look just like you eat food in order to live he's saying you know my body being broken for you me coming down from heaven I'm like the manna that comes down from heaven you know gave them physical life in the wilderness they ate that bread and it kept them alive but I'm gonna give you my flesh I'm gonna die on the cross and you're gonna live forever and it's believing on me and he explained like 10 times what he meant believe believe believe believe believe but then Catholics walk away and instead of saying oh we gotta believe on Christ it's all faith the work is that we just believe on him whom Christ sent or whom God sent this is what they walk away and say and then of course you got the pagan hocus pocus you know to hold it up and turn a cracker into Jesus supposedly and then they do a painting of Jesus and it's a cracker no I'm just kidding but anyway the point is you know they basically you know they take it too literally where they just they're blinded like when you read this passage don't you just feel like boy these people are a little bit slow cause he's explaining it it's an illustration when Jesus said I'm the door I mean why don't we bring a door into church and say alright everybody you know you gotta walk through this door to be saved and you know this door is gonna become Jesus and you're gonna walk through like a transubstantiation of a door right? and then like we could get a frame with a door in it and just open a door and like alright everybody be saved it could be like an 8th sacrament of going through a literal door why not right? I'm the true vine let's bring in a vine alright everybody here's the vine we gotta all get graphed into this thing it's silly it doesn't make any sense right? what he's saying is you gotta believe and they're saying well how can this man give us his flesh to eat verse 53 then Jesus said to them verily verily I say unto you except you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him and again they're thinking this is literal when obviously it's figurative as the living father hath sent me and I live by the father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me this is the bread which came down from heaven not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead he that eateth of this bread shall live forever and he said he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum many therefore of his disciples when they had heard this said this is a hard saying who can hear it when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it he said unto them does this offend you well then maybe I'll change to a more palatable message no he said does this offend you what and if you shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before let me ask you this what is it that they were offended about they're offended because he's saying I came down from heaven and they're saying we know your mom and dad you didn't come down from heaven but of course Joseph is not his actual dad he's born of the virgin Mary and so they're offended when he said I'm the bread that came down from heaven because that's what they said earlier well you know we know his parents but that's why he says in verse 62 what and if you shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before he's responding to that idea of hey you don't believe that I came from heaven well guess what what if you see me ascend back up to heaven because that's what he's going to do after the resurrection but here's the key verse in verse 63 it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing now what does quicken mean? quicken means bring to life right this is kind of an old word that we don't use anymore quick means alive like the Bible says Jesus will be the judge of the quick and the dead that doesn't mean people are fast and dead quick and dead means living and dead so when it says it is the spirit that quickeneth it's the spirit that brings to life what was he saying? he said look you have to eat this bread of life or you'll have no life in you you have to eat of my flesh right but he's not talking about his literal flesh because he says the flesh profiteth nothing it's the spirit that quickeneth it's not a physical meal that you have to eat in order to be saved just like it's not a physical door that you have to walk through or like the Mormons you've got to do a special handshake to get into heaven that's not even a joke you literally have to do a handshake you're going to get to heaven and there's a curtain and a hand comes out the curtain and you've got to be like it's not like that but it's like a masonic it's not like an inner city handshake it's like a masonic handshake that you've got to do but I'm not kidding go on YouTube and watch their voodoo ceremonies in the Mormon temple and you've got to do a special handshake and everything to get into heaven you know folks that stuff is all a bunch of made up religious junk okay the Bible tells us what the way to heaven is it's believing in Christ and it's nothing physical that gets you saved it's not the flesh you know Jesus is saying hey my flesh is meat indeed because he said I'm going to give my flesh for the life of the world my body is going to be broken for you I'm going to give my body I'm going to shed my blood for you and he's basically saying that his body is like meat and his blood is like drink why? not because you're actually going to eat blood or eat flesh what he's saying is just like you get your life from the food that you eat I'm going to give you life my body dying on the cross and my blood being shed is going to bring life to the world but the difference is that this isn't a meal that you eat over and over again it's a one time thing where you eat the bread of life and you're never hungry and you believe on me and you never thirst it's a one time thing and Jesus Christ died on the cross look our food gives us life and if you think about it all of our food that we eat it died in order for us to eat it unless you think about those people in the Philippines who are eating stuff that's still alive they're putting like little what do they put in their mouth that's squirming around? octopuses and tarantulas and stuff there's all these like smiling Filipino teenage girls putting tarantulas in their mouth on Facebook and stuff laughing about it but here's the thing as soon as it hits that stomach acid it's going to die all of our food that nourishes us died and you say well I'm vegan the plants died right? like in order for those plants to give you life the plants had to die animals had to die right? so through their death we live through the chicken's death we live through the avocado's death we live you know whatever I'm saying like we eat living materials we don't go out and eat and just eat minerals what minerals do we eat? I mean yeah we put some minerals in our diet but you can't just eat salt or something and just live on that right? what we eat is not minerals what we eat is plants or animals they're things that lived and died this is a picture of the fact that Jesus Christ lived and died to give us life we are sustained by eating other things that died and spiritually we get eternal life we get saved by Jesus Christ giving his life for us and dying for us and then he's the bread of life and that's what he's teaching here in this passage so it kind of makes sense that he'd be born in a manger right? when he gives his flesh to feed the world spiritually right? to give us life eternal and this is a one time thing you get saved one time you believe on Christ one time and you're saved that's it and notice where in this passage does it say hey if you turn away from all your sins you'll have everlasting life is that what he's teaching? I mean we just read a pretty big chunk of scripture did he teach hey you got to make sure that you get all the sin out of your life before you eat this bread is that what he said? hey you got to clean up your life hey be sure that you join the church and get baptized and live a good life and he didn't say any of those things he's saying look you got to see the son of man you got to believe on him you got to believe on Jesus you got to eat the bread of life and once you do you'll be saved now he does say that you know you're not going to be able to be saved unless the father draws you he says that you know you have to be taught of God it says you know you have to learn of the father now stop and think about this it says in verse 63 don't miss this it's the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life you know how you get taught of God or drawn by the father it's through the word of God because the Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God you know without God's word you can't come to Christ it's God's word that draws you to him it's God's word that creates the faith in you because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God you know if you don't hear the word of God you're never going to believe in him you're never going to have faith in him but you know maybe maybe there's somebody here tonight that's not saved and you come to a service like this and you hear God's word as we read the book of John here and as it's being preached and you hear it and you say you know what I believe that Jesus Christ the son of God I believe that he's a savior and that comes from hearing God's word and so it's the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life and it's interesting too because he's comparing himself to the manna that came down from heaven and the manna that came down from heaven is compared to the word of God in Deuteronomy chapter 8 but in verse 64 he says but there are some of you that don't live a good enough life is that what he said? but some of you haven't joined the church but some of you are still living in sin is that what he said? no he said but there are some of you that believe not because that is the difference between those who have eternal life and those who don't is whether or not you believe in Christ he said there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him he knew that Judas didn't believe he knew that Judas was going to betray him and he even says have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil? even at the beginning of his ministry he knew that Judas was a devil that Judas would betray him that Judas was bogus now flip over if you would to John chapter 18 so we're talking tonight about the significance of the manger what is the significance of the manger? number one the significance is to show a humble beginning that Jesus Christ didn't come into this world showing how cool he is wearing all the fancy clothes having all the name brands living in the fancy neighborhood driving a fancy car he grew up humble he was born in the home of a blue collar guy a carpenter's home he's living in a carpenter's home he's born in a barn no room in the inn laid in a manger for a crib instead of a crib that's fancy and it was off the gift registry he's actually in a manger secondly we say it's not just a sign of his humility but it's also a sign of him being the bread of life I mean he's coming to give his life for the world and that is likened unto food it's likened to bread and look this should show you how easy it is to get saved here's how easy it is to get saved it's like eating a piece of bread it's like drinking a glass of water it's like walking through a door but then people who don't get it will say well show me where that door is so I can walk through it where's that bread so I can eat it and of course there's going to be somebody dressed like momma that was going to give him bread and say ok this is the bread eat this bread and you're good to go but you know what there's no physical bread that you can eat that will get you saved because the flesh profit is nothing there's no drink that you can drink that will save you there's no handshake there's no physical door it's believing in Christ these are all just pictures it's just symbols, metaphors there's no literal door, vine he's trying to make you understand how easy it is hey it's like a bread that you can eat and never be hungry again that's what it's like to be saved you eat it one time and you're done you don't have to keep coming back and we talked about all the illustrations with that but thirdly this so it's a sign of his humility number one number two it's a sign of him being the bread of life but it's also a sign of the fact that Jesus Christ would feed us with knowledge as well not to just feed us by dying on the cross and giving his life his body being broken for us so that we could ingest that spiritually and basically have eternal life and believe on him and be saved but it's also about giving us wisdom, knowledge and understanding he doesn't just save us from hell I mean obviously that's the big thing you know Jesus Christ was born into this world in order to die on the cross for our sins and save us from hell he died and was buried and rose again that's the big thing but you know most of us here we already took care of that a long time ago or maybe recently but you know most people have already taken care of that and if you haven't taken care of that you need to get that settled immediately but those of us that are already saved you know is that all Jesus is good for just to save us then why would we keep going to church for the rest of our lives if we're already saved we already ate the bread we're done why do we keep coming back because not only did Jesus Christ come to save us he also feeds us with knowledge you know the Bible says you're going to John chapter 18 but in Jeremiah 3.15 God said I will give you pastors according to my heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding look what Jesus said in verse 36 there in John chapter 18 Jesus answered my kingdom is not of this world if my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews but now is my kingdom not from hence saying it's not from here my kingdom is not of this world verse 37 pilot therefore said in him art thou a king then Jesus answered thou sayest that I am a king to this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice pilot saith unto him what is truth wow so profound and when he had said this he went out again unto the Jews and said unto them I find in him no fault at all so what's Jesus saying here Jesus is saying of course that he is the king of the Jews now Jesus is very humble so he always allows other people to say this about him so you know they say are you the king of the Jews and he says well you know thou sayest you say that I am you said it oh did other people tell you this about me or did you figure this out on your own what the point is that he is admitting and saying yes I am the king of the Jews but he says my kingdom is not from hence so pilot is examining him to see if he is a political threat you know is this guy trying to take over is he trying to rebel against the Romans and overthrow the government and Jesus explains no I'm not he says no he says if my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered unto the Jews but now my kingdom is not from hence he has a spiritual kingdom not a physical kingdom a spiritual kingdom and this seems to be the big thing we don't have time to go through the whole book of John but this is like the whole book of John everybody thinks everything is literal and he is like nope not literal not literal they think it is literal to be born again and then the woman at the well is like give me the water so I will never be thirsty again hello give us that bread evermore give us that bread don't you get it you know and then it is like oh you are the king of the Jews what are you trying to do take my job he is telling pilot no my kingdom is not from hence but he says thou sayest look at verse number 37 thou sayest that I am a king to this end was I born so he is saying look I was born to be a king yes thou sayest that I am a king and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth everyone that is of the truth here with my voice so according to this verse why was Jesus born what Jesus brings up and says you know why I was born to bear witness to the truth to bear witness to the truth so yes of course Jesus Christ came to this earth to die on the cross for our sins but you know what else he came to do to bear witness unto the truth he came to preach the truth so Jesus didn't just come to only die on the cross for our sins he also came to teach us the word of God he came to bear witness unto the truth and he said everyone that is of the truth here with my voice and of course pilot just blows this off with a stupid question of what is truth that is a foolish question because we all know what truth means I think every small child in here knows what the truth is you know what the truth is it's what is really the actual situation it's reality truth is reality and so the opposite of truth is a lie or that which is false or that which isn't real that which is fake that which doesn't exist and so pilot just kind of asks this question he's trying to sound real smart and philosophical he's a real free thinker you know what is truth what does that mean but Jesus Christ is being very plain here when he says I came into this world to bear witness unto the truth you know Jesus Christ said I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the Father but by me and so Jesus Christ is the way he's the only way to heaven the only right way to live your life is the way that he tells you to live your life the only way to get to heaven is by believing in him and he's the truth and in him there's no lie and everything that he says is true everything in the Bible is true anything that contradicts the Bible is a lie and so he said I'm the way the truth and the life right the only way to have life in you is to eat that bread of life to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior it's not through Buddha it's not through Hinduism or Islam or anything else it's through the Lord Jesus Christ only he is the way the truth and the life and he said no man cometh unto the Father but by me so you can't bypass Jesus well I'm just gonna go straight to the top folks you're not gonna make it past the secretary you know what I'm saying like you know you think oh I'm just gonna march right into his office no you're not you're gonna be tackled by the security before you get there because no man cometh unto the Father but through Jesus now if you know Christ you will waltz right in to the office of God the Father himself and you just flash that you know that badge to the security and you're gonna get right in but without Jesus Christ you're not gonna see God the Father you're not gonna talk to God the Father you're not gonna have an appointment with God the Father no man cometh unto the Father but by him Jews right the Jews they're trying to just go straight nope not happening shlomo no man cometh unto the Father but by Jesus Christ and since he came to bear witness to the truth we spend the rest of our lives we eat the bread one time we eat of his flesh and drink of his blood one time not literally that's weird that's pagan eating flesh and drinking blood that's cannibalism it's not even allowed in the Old Testament law to eat any kind of blood ever for any reason that's why I don't do those blood tacos or blood sausage or blood jelly or whatever so what he's saying is you know one time you eat of that bread of life and be saved one time but then you spend the rest of your life learning from the truth that he taught so even after you've been saved for 15 years 20 years 30 years 40 years you don't need to get re-saved but you know what you need to do is just keep learning the truth keep learning the wisdom learning the knowledge and he continues to feed us with knowledge because he came to bear witness to the truth and he said I'll give you pastors that will feed you with knowledge and understanding of course he is the ultimate pastor he is the great shepherd himself that feeds us with knowledge and you know we all like to take in knowledge we all like to learn and gain new understanding well it's all right here you could spend a lifetime studying this book you're not even going to scratch the surface because there's so much truth in here there's so much knowledge in here it'll last you a lifetime and so I hope that this will help you to think about the manger with the new significance and think about the fact that Jesus Christ was born in a manger because he's humble he was born in a manger because of the bread of life and he was born in a manger because he feeds us with knowledge Father we thank you so much for the birth of Jesus Christ our savior Lord and I just pray that every single person that's here tonight would understand the message and that they would have a deeper understanding of this and if there's anyone here that's not saved Lord I pray that they would get saved before it's eternally too late because hell is real, heaven is real and Lord we just pray that every single person here would understand that salvation is a one time deal it's by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ not by works not by eating a physical bread or drinking a physical drink or going through a physical door or performing a physical handshake or something like that Lord but that it's through the blood of Jesus Christ in his blood and Lord we thank you so much for the year that you've given us Lord and all the blessings of 2020 and the way you've blessed our church thank you for the great group of people that you've assembled here tonight Lord to celebrate your birth and bless us now as we go our separate ways give us safety Lord and also just help us to have a blessed time with family and friends over the next few days and I just pray that we would honor and glorify you as we meditate upon the birth of Jesus and it's in his name we pray amen amen if you would please take your hymnals one last time tonight in turn number 431 hymn number 431 Silent Night number 431 sing it out on this first verse Silent Night Silent Night Silent Night Silent Night Holy Night Holy Night All is All All is Right Round yon Virgin Mother and Child Holy Holy If it's so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace Silent Silent Silent Silent Night Silent Holy Night Silent Shepherds Wave at the sight Glory Stream from heaven upon heavenly hosting Alleluia Christ Christ the Saviour is born Christ the Saviour is born Silent Silent Silent Silent Silent Silent Silent Silent Let us pure light radiant feet from thy holy face with the dawning evening rain Jesus Lord at thy birth Jesus Jesus Lord at thy birth Silent Silent Silent Holy Holy Holy Holy Holy Holy Holy Holy Let us sing Alleluia to our King Christ the Saviour is born Christ the Saviour is born Jesus the Saviour is born Jesus the Saviour is born Jesus the Saviour is born Jesus the Saviour is born Jesus the Saviour is born Jesus the Saviour is born Jesus the Saviour is born Jesus the Saviour is born Jesus the