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Luke chapter 3 is a great chapter of the Bible, so much good content. We even have a genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ from His mother's side here in this chapter but the verse that I really want to focus on is verse 15. And I know that we've been going through the book of Judges but we're going to take a nice little break in between Judges 19 and Judges 20, alright? So we're going to get a little bit different sermon this evening but look at verse 15, the Bible says this, and as the people were in expectation and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not. Now in Luke chapter number 3, it starts out by setting the scene and then it tells us very clearly in verse number 2, unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness, it's saying the word of God came unto him. So we're talking about John the Baptist and John the Baptist is the son of Zacharias, Zacharias is a priest of God and so John the Baptist is of that priestly lineage, his father's a priest and John the Baptist was preaching in the wilderness, he's preaching the word of God and as he was preaching with power and preaching many different things, all the people, notice what it says in verse number 15, and as the people were in expectation and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not. Now what I want to point out about this verse is this fact, that all these people were anticipating the coming of Christ. They were in anticipation of Christ and that's the title of the sermon this evening is the anticipation of Christ. You know sometimes people falsely teach that the Jews were not anticipating a Messiah, they weren't looking for a Messiah, they were taken off guard by Jesus, claiming to be the Messiah because they weren't even looking for a Messiah. You know this is false teaching from someone like John Hagee or other non-denominational teachers who try to elevate Zionism or other false doctrines. But the Bible could not be clearer that all these people, every single person at this time was in anticipation of Christ. It was a very real anticipation and so I want to prove this from the Scriptures. Go back to chapter 1 for a moment. What does it mean to anticipate? Well you look in the dictionary it says, look forward to or expect. So notice we had in that verse the expectation of them, right? They're musing in their hearts, they're wondering if John is this Christ. Why? Because they're expecting a Christ to come. They're anticipating a Christ to come and they're wondering if John is that fulfillment of Christ. But John made it clear that he was not that Christ. He was one that was going to prepare the way of the Lord. He was a voice crying out in the wilderness as he describes himself. But those people were clearly in expectation of Christ. Now when we think about anticipation it can also mean like you're looking forward to it in a positive sense, right? But for this sermon I just really want to focus on the fact that they're just looking forward to it. You know, they're looking to it. Whether it's positive or negative depends upon who's actually looking for that coming of Christ. We're going to see some people that are really excited about it. We're going to see some people that were not excited about the coming of Christ. But one thing's clear, they were all anticipating Christ. Look at Luke chapter 1 verse 63. I'm going to show you this another person that's anticipating Christ. It says in verse number 63, And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. Now this is Zacharias, this is John the Baptist's father. And he was made dumb because he did not believe the angel when he came and told him that he was going to have a child. Because he was very old, his wife was very old, they'd been barren for many years. And when the angel told him he was going to have a child, he didn't believe him. He was incredulous to the angel. Therefore the angel dumbfounded him. He could literally not speak. And they're arguing about what they're going to name him. And they're kind of thinking like, let's name him Zacharias. Let's name him something that's similar to a family name. But Zacharias writes on a tablet. He says in verse number 63, He asked for the writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all. Because they're marveling why? Because John is not a familial name. And they typically name someone with a name that another father, grandparent, or somebody had. And John is out of order. It's out of that sequence. And so they're kind of like, oh wow, they're going to name this guy John? Why would they name him John? Verse 64, And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake and praised God. So this guy's been mute, and they're just like, what happened to this guy? He writes on a tablet, his name's John, and then immediately he's able to speak. He's immediately able to praise God all of a sudden, because now he's trusting what the angel had said. He's following the instructions of the angel. It says in verse number 65, And fear came on all that dwelt round about them. And all these sayings were noise abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with them. So they're saying, wow, there's this priest of God. He's one of the best priests we have at Zacharias. He was dumbfounded. Then all of a sudden, he's giving a name to his child that's not normal. And all of a sudden, by a miracle, he's able to praise God. They're like, this child must be something special. There's something special about John. There's something about John the Baptist, and everybody's kind of like, wow, what's going on? Even they were afraid. Says in verse number 67, And his father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and remember his holy covenant, the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, and holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life, and thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the highest. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. So Zechariah also is anticipating Christ. He says that he's going to be a prophet in the face of the Lord. He's going to prepare the way of the Lord, and he's going to go before the face of the Lord. Now, we know, after reading the Bible, that he's talking about Jesus Christ. He's talking about the Son of God, and now John the Baptist was literally preparing a way before the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore Zechariah, he obviously is aware that Christ is coming. He's anticipating that Christ. He's preaching about that Christ, and he's prophesying about his own son, saying his son is going to prepare a way for the Lord who's coming, the Son of God. Now, keep your finger here, and go to John chapter number one. Go to John. Actually, don't keep your finger here. I'm not going to come back. We will, but in a minute. John chapter one, and look at verse 19. Look at John chapter one, verse number 19. Now the Bible says this. It says, and this is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou? Now after reading Luke chapter one, it makes sense that they would be curious about John. You know, a lot of people have heard about him. There's all these miracles that were performed. His father's preached. He's a priest of God, and he's going out in the wilderness. He's baptizing people. He's preaching, and so they're like, what's going on? And they say, who are you? And he confessed, and I'm not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. Now here's the thing. If I came up to you, and I said, who are you? And you said, well, I'm not the Christ, and you're like, well, I wasn't asking that. You know, when I go to door, and I was like, hey, my name's Pastor Shelley. What's your name? They're not like, I'm not the Christ. Now if someone says that, you know why they're saying that? Because they're anticipating he's the Christ. Why else would he say that? It makes no sense for him to answer that question that way unless they were asking it thinking he's the Christ, right? You go into a store, and you're kind of looking at someone that looks like the manager, and you're like, who's the manager around here? Who are you? You know, if the person's not the manager, you know what they're going to say? Well, I'm not the manager. When Karen comes in, and she's upset, and you're like, I'm not the manager. It's like, why are they saying that? Because they're assuming they're looking for the manager, right? So if they're coming, and they're like, who are you? It's not like he was like, oh, I'm John the Baptist. They're like, what are you doing here? Who are you? And he's like, I'm not the Christ, guys. You know why he's saying that? Because they're anticipating he could be the Christ. They're anticipating Christ is going to come. Let's keep reading this. It says in verse number 21, and they asked him, what then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, no. Now, why would they say, art thou that prophet? You know why? Because they're expecting a prophet to come. The prophet that was prophesied in Moses, who is Christ, look, even the Jews, even the Pharisees, even the religious leaders, they realize, hey, there's supposed to be a prophet coming. Are you the prophet? No. Are you Elias? No. He's John the Baptist. Now, he's in the spirit of Elias, okay, but he's John the Baptist. And let's keep reading another verse here. Look at verse number 22. Then said they to him, who art thou? That we may give an answer to them that sent us, what sayest thou of thyself? And he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet, Isaiah. So he's saying, you know what? I'm just like the guy that Isaiah preached about, the guy that's just a voice in the wilderness. And you know, he doesn't even, he's so humble, he's not like, it's John the Baptist. You want me to spell that for you? You know, it's like, no, it's just a voice of one crying in the wilderness. You know, because it's not about the preacher, it's about the message. And what's that message? Hey, one's crying out in the wilderness because the Lord's about to come, because the Christ is about to come, and it's all about Christ, and John the Baptist was all about Christ increasing and him decreasing. He wasn't about, you know, how big and popular he could get. He was about just doing the work of the Lord. But here's the facts. Everyone's anticipating Christ. Now why would he make these statements about Isaiah? Why would he say he's a voice crying out in the wilderness? Go to Malachi, chapter number three. Go to Malachi. Now Malachi is just right before Matthew. It's the last book in the Old Testament, and it's perfectly placed because Malachi is going to prophesy of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the last, you know, prophecy that we really have given to the Jews or given to God's people, and it makes sense because it's telling them the next stage, it's telling them the next event that's going to happen. God constantly sends prophets to the children of Israel, to God's people to tell them the next event. Hey, you know what? The next event, you're entering the promised land. The next event, you're going to reject me instead of a king. The next event, you're going to all get rejected and going to be replaced. And the next event, Christ is coming. And then that's what Malachi, chapter number three is going to tell us all about, okay? Malachi, chapter number three, look at verse number one. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. So notice he's saying, hey, I'm going to send somebody that's going to prepare the way before me. That was John the Baptist. And notice he says before me, because Jesus is talking about the fact that, hey, John the Baptist is going to come prepare the way before me. Notice Jesus existed before John the Baptist. Look at chapter number four, verse five. Behold, I will send you, Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest they come and smite the earth with a curse. And so John the Baptist came in the spirit and the power of Elijah, and he preached the word of God. He prepared the way of the Lord. He was trying to turn the heart of the fathers and the children and of the children unto their fathers. Now go back to Luke chapter number one. It makes sense then why people would anticipate Christ since Moses said there's going to be a prophet, that he's going to raise up amongst the midst of his brethren. Hey, it makes sense when Malachi is saying, hey, I'm going to come. The Lord shall come. I'm going to send a messenger, and then I'm going to come. Now if the last message you heard was the Lord's going to come, the Lord's going to come. He's going to send a messenger. He's going to send a messenger. And that's the last preaching you have. All the other preaching has been fulfilled. From a lot of perspectives, not everything, but for the majority, Jerusalem was wiped out. They've returned to Jerusalem. All the other preaching that was basically given to them in Isaiah and Jeremiah and a lot of that stuff had been fulfilled in that first fulfillment. And so the thing that hadn't been fulfilled that was readily available to them, the most applicable thing here is the fact that the Lord's going to come. There's going to be a Christ. There's going to be a rescuer, a deliverer. Someone's going to be the anointed one. And there's going to be a messenger before him. That makes sense why everyone would be looking for him. Just like if I got up and said, hey, Pastor Thompson's coming January 17th. And everybody's like, hey, I'm waiting for Pastor Thompson to come on January 17th. It makes sense. Just like the Lord told them, hey, the Lord's going to come. Now look at Luke chapter number 1, verse 28. Here's another person that was obviously anticipating the Lord's coming. She gets even better instruction. Look at verse number 28. An angel came in unto her and said, hail, thou art highly favored. The Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy will and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. So Mary is also anticipating Christ. You know why she's anticipating? Because an angel came and told her, you're going to have that child. And that's a pretty obvious one. But notice Mary's anticipating. John the Baptist's parents were anticipating. John the Baptist is anticipating. Notice that all the people asking John the Baptist are anticipating. And why is this so important that she asks this question, she says, how shall this be? Well, how can a virgin conceive? She can't, naturally speaking. It's impossible. But you know what? Through a miracle, through God performing a miracle, putting the Holy Ghost upon her, she conceived a child. And so that's why Jesus Christ is both the son of man by being born of Mary and also who's the father? God. Therefore, what would you call him? The Son of God. Because you know, obviously in this feminist hellhole that we live in today, people forget it, that the father matters in society. But you know, back then, the father is the only one that really matters. Did you notice the genealogy in Luke, chapter number three? How many women were mentioned? Zero. None. In fact, it mentioned Mary's father, okay, and then it says, like, as opposed and things like that. You know, when it talks about Joseph's lineage or talks about Mary's lineage, it'll be like as opposed. Because it's like Mary doesn't count in the lineage, okay? And for Joseph, obviously it's as opposed because it's like, well, he's not really the father. But you know what? Only the man matters when it comes to the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. So people are going to ask this question, whose son are you? And what would be the response? I'm the son of God. There's only one other person that had that title was Adam. If you said, hey, Adam, who's your dad? God. Adam was the son of God. So what does it mean to have the title son of God? It means simply that God is your father. He's the one that begat you, okay? And so there's different ways that the son of God could be attributed. Son of God could be attributed in the sense that you have no earthly father. God is the one that begat you. That would be true of what? Adam. It would be true of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's another way that you could be called the son of God. If you've been born again spiritually, the Bible says, behold, now are we the sons of God? So that's another way you could be called the son of God is you've been born again spiritually. Or the third possibility is you are Jesus Christ. You're the literal son of God in every way possible. You're the son of God from eternity past as well, okay? Jesus Christ has always been the son of God. And then also when he was born, he's the son of God. He's the son of God, period, okay? Now go if you would to Luke chapter number two, Luke chapter number two, and look at verse number eight again. So we have the expectation of who? We have the expectation of those in Jerusalem. We have the expectation of the Jews and the Pharisees. We have the expectation of John the Baptist's parents. We have the expectation of Mary. We also had Joseph. The angel came and told Joseph about Jesus coming. We have the preaching and Malachi. Luke chapter two, look at verse number eight. 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 heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass that the angels were gone away from them into heaven. The shepherd said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. So obviously they're anticipating Christ. They get a whole choir to sing to them and tell them, hey, Christ is born. Go see the Lord. Go see the Christ who has come. Now go if you would to verse 25. Verse 25, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. 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. Now that's a pretty cool thing to be told, you know, have the word of God come, hey, you're not going to die until you see Jesus. You know, at least people would come up to you and say, hey, do you know when you're going to die? Well, I know I'm not going to die yet because I haven't seen the Lord's Christ. Now it's a really bittersweet day when he sees the Lord's Christ because he's like, I'm not promised tomorrow, you know, I'm not promised the next day. But notice, you think he was anticipating Christ coming? Yeah, he's told he's not going to die until he sees the Lord's Christ. Now let's keep reading here a little bit. He says in verse number 27, he came by the Spirit in 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 and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen salvation, which thou has 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. So notice Simeon, he's actually ready to go. He's ready to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. And he says, hey, it's time for me to go, I've seen the Lord's Christ. But notice he blesses the Lord, he blesses these parents and obviously even though Mary and Joseph have been told this is the Lord, it's still going to increase their faith and it's still going to be incredible to them when prophets and other preachers and other men of God are prophesying and telling them of this child that they have and telling them, hey, this is the Lord, this guy is, you know, the Son of God. He says in verse number 34, and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary's 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, his sword shall pierce through thine own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna of prophetess, the daughter Fanuel of the tribe of Assur. She was of 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. She coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. So notice another person, this woman who's coming in, Anna, who she was married for seven years, she lost her husband, then after she lost her husband she just served God for the rest of her life. I mean decade after decade just serving the Lord, just remaining a widow, just putting and elevating the Lord and at the end of her life she gets to prophesy and talk about the Lord Jesus Christ and preach about him. And so what a great blessing at the end of her life that she gets to do this. You know we don't know anything about her until now. You know that tells me some of the greatest things people could do could be at the very end of their life. You know the best is yet to come for many people. You know don't think, oh well I wish I'd served God when I was young. Well why don't you serve God now because you might do something great in the future. Even these people in their old age are mentioned in the Bible as doing great things for the Lord. Go to Matthew chapter number two, Matthew chapter number two. One thing is just undeniable that all of these people were anticipating Christ. I mean there's no way to escape this fact. We can prove it from so many different places in the scripture. Look at Matthew chapter two and look at verse number one. It says, Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. So notice we have other men. They're not even Jews. These are just wise men from the east. These are just other nations, other places. Now it says that they're wise men. In what way are they wise? I don't know. I'll let your imagination run wild, but they're at least wise in the scriptures. You know why? Because it says in verse number two, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? Now you don't just make that statement out of nowhere. They must have known the Bible. They must have known the word of God and for the Bible to declare them wise, they're probably saved even. Some people have this weird idea that the only saved people on the planet back then were just the people that lived in Jerusalem. But that's not true. We see people outside of Jerusalem, outside of the children of Israel getting saved, coming to the Lord. We have the queen of Sheba coming and talking to Solomon, and the Bible even says that she's going to condemn people in judgment. Now you know who condemns people in judgment? People that are saved. You're not going to look down upon people in judgment when you're being judged. So we have lots of people and lots of examples of the heathen getting saved, naming the Syrian God saved. And you know what? He didn't decide to live in Jerusalem. He went back home. He went back to Syria and he still even bowed down to wink, wink, nod, nod his false God. He was like, let me just go ahead. I don't want to get in trouble with my boss back home. So he went back to the Catholic church after getting saved. I mean he's like, I'm still going to worship Mary, wink, wink, nod, nod. I'm still going to take the cracker from the priest, the pedophile priest. It's like, look, there's tons of people that get saved and they don't serve God. There's tons of people that get saved and they don't go to church. Where are the nine? You know what? These wise men, they're coming to seek the Lord. They're wondering where the King of the Jews is. Why would you ask such a question? You know what? They're anticipating the King of the Jews coming. They're anticipating the Christ coming. They're looking for him. They've been studying the stars, saying there's going to be a sign. And they look up and they say, oh wow. Where's this star? That must mean that Christ has come. Let's go see him. Talk about faith. Talk about incredible faith to say, you know what? That star must be Christ's here. Let's go see him. Where is he? And let's just go to the King. Let's talk to Herod, which that wasn't a good decision. They're asking Joel Osteen to give them spiritual advice. And it's like, that's not a good person to have. Well, let's go ask Trump. Trump's a Christian, right? Let's go ask him. Let's go ask Mike Pence. You know? That's not going to give you the answer. Now whenever they ask this question, unfortunately Herod and them, they're not interested in actually seeking the Lord. But they pretend. They flatter. They lie. I don't know if you know this, but government will lie to you sometimes. Government will pretend to want to find Christ with you when they don't. Okay? Look at verse number three. When Herod the King had heard these things, he was troubled. And all Jerusalem with him. Notice he's going to anticipate this too, but he's not excited about it. You know, the wise men are excited about it. Mary, you know, she's a little timid about it. The shepherds, they're real excited about it. Simeon's really excited about it. He gets to go home to heaven. Anna's excited. I mean, there's lots of people that are excited about Christ coming. Some are kind of troubled. Some are fearful. So there's a lot of mixed feelings about it. But notice when the angels came, they said, goodwill toward men. There's nothing to be afraid of Christ coming. You know, Christ coming didn't condemn you. It only saved you. Now, if you reject it, that's going to be bad on you. But him coming is only good and only positive towards all men, every single person. He's the propitiation not for our sins only, but also for the whole world. He's the savior of all men. He tastes the death for every man. And so Herod, he's troubled about Christ coming because he's a fool. He should be excited that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming. He should be excited that the Son of God is coming to save him from his sins. But you know what? Because he's wicked, he is troubled, not because Christ coming is bad news. It's only good news, but it's because Herod is a wicked person. Verse 4, and we had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together. He demanded of them where Christ should be born. Now, why would you ask this question if you didn't even expect Christ to come? Hey, where is this guy going to be born that no one's anticipating to come? It's like, no. He's like, where is that Christ coming from? Hey, what are these guys talking about? Let's identify the location of this Christ since we've identified his coming. It says in verse 5, and they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, and now Bethlehem, and the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah. For out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people, Israel. So notice, they're giving him the answer. You know why? Because they were anticipating Christ to come out of Bethlehem, and in fact, later, I'm not going to go there for the sake of time, but they're saying, oh, he's a Galilean. Can any good thing come out of Galilee? And they mistake and think he can't be the Christ because he didn't come from Bethlehem not knowing he came from Bethlehem, not knowing he really did fulfill that scripture, but notice they didn't say no one's coming. Oh, you can't be the Christ because no one's coming. They're saying you can't be the Christ because you're from the wrong town, but here's the problem. For them, he came from the right town. He did come from Bethlehem. Now, keep your finger on Micah chapter number five for a second. Let's see where this is mentioned in the Bible. So in the Old Testament, there's all kinds of prophecy telling us of Christ coming, of the Lord coming, and all kinds of specific detail of his coming, the fact that he's going to be of the house of David. You know, you have Matthew, which I don't know if I said this right the first time. Matthew is the lineage of Mary, okay, and then Luke is the lineage of Joseph because in Luke 3, it says as opposed because Joseph's not really his father, but in Matthew, it's coming from Mary's side of the family because that's really where he came from, and you know what? He's a son of David from Mary's side, but even just the adoptive father, just go ahead and sure up all bets, also from David's side. So he's a son of David from Joseph's side. He's a son of David from Mary's side. He's a son of David because he's the root and offspring of David too, okay? He's the root and offspring of Jesse, and you know what? He is the son of David. He is the son of God, and not only did it tell him he's going to be from that house, it told him where he's going to be born. Now it's interesting because Mary and Joseph, when they're being taxed, it's always about taxes, isn't it? They had to go back to the city of David where he was going to be born. God orchestrated that. You know what? It's interesting that God caused the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill Scripture because of taxes. And you know what? If Mary and Joseph had been tax protesters like Ken Hovind, they wouldn't have filled Scripture. But notice, they actually went, they followed the census, they paid taxes, you're like, ah, taxes. You know what? To fulfill Scripture. Think about that. You're like, I don't like that thought. All right, well, Micah chapter 5, verse 2, look at this. The Lord Jesus Christ is from everlasting. He created the entire earth, and then not only that, he entered into the entire earth. Then he died for all of mankind. And you know what? He's going to be the ruler of all mankind, too. He's everything. He's the alpha and the omega. He's the beginning and the end. He's the root and the offspring of David. It's all about the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice that this Scripture ends up getting fulfilled because of Mary and Joseph's obedience to pay taxes. They go back to Bethlehem. He's born in Bethlehem. The shepherds witness him in Bethlehem. Then the wise men come unto Herod, and they're like, hey, he's supposed to be born in Bethlehem. And then what does Herod do? He kills all the children. The wicked, evil person that he is, he murders all of the babies in Bethlehem trying to kill Jesus, but Jesus escapes. Now what type of confidence would you have to have, carnally speaking, think about it, to murder every baby two years and under? He must have believed that Christ was coming. I mean, think about that. I mean, for a governor to say, hey, kill every single baby in this town, wouldn't you think he was convinced that Christ was coming? How would you tell? Everyone's anticipating Christ. Why did Herod kill all the babies in Ramah? Why is Rachel weeping? Have you even read the Bible? That's my question. Go, if you would, to Isaiah chapter nine now. Go to Isaiah chapter nine. Now the Bible says he's going to be a governor. The Bible said he's going to be a ruler. There's other Scriptures that talk about the Christ coming. And I don't have, for a second, I can't go to every single verse here, but one thing's crystal clear. Everyone's anticipating Christ. The whole Bible's anticipating Christ. Why? Because it's the main event. What's the main event of the Bible? Jesus. It's all about Jesus. It's all about him coming. And you know what? It's all about his life, and it's all about his death. It's all about everything. Some people say that the death is the only thing that matters. Well, you know what? Two-thirds of the gospels are about his life. You realize that? And a lot of them began with his birth. You know what? That must mean it's important. It must mean it's something that was significant. You know why? It is all significant. Christ had to fulfill every prophecy. Christ had to be born of the virgin. Christ had to live a sinless and perfect life. Christ had to go through all of the different sufferings of his life. You think that not eating for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness was fun? Most of you have probably not skipped food for more than two days, let alone two weeks. Some of you, two hours. Okay? No, I'm just kidding. I mean, you don't think that was suffering? You don't think the things that Christ went through was suffering in his life? You know what? The Bible says the sufferings of Christ, and yeah, obviously the cross was one of the worst things that he went through, and it's horrible, and we need to emphasize the cross, but we need to emphasize everything about Jesus Christ, and we need to emphasize his birth, too. I love Christmas because it emphasizes the birth of Christ, not the death. It celebrates him coming. It celebrates what he was going to do for us. Now, I had you turn to Isaiah chapter nine, look at verse six. For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever. So notice a prophecy of the Christ being born, and what's the emphasis in these two verses? That he's going to be the governor, that he's going to be the ruler, he's going to be the mighty God. When the Bible says the Everlasting Father, compare that with chapter 22, and it tells us father can mean governor. That's what we read in Matthew, that he's going to be the governor. That's what we see it saying in Micah chapter five, that he's the ruler. And of course, when Christ comes again, he is going to be a literal ruler on this earth. Now, go to John chapter number four, go to John chapter number four, you say, I feel like I understand, Pastor Shelley. Everyone believed Christ was coming. Well, I want to just completely destroy the idea that people were not anticipating Christ. Because we've seen the Jews, we've seen Mary, we've seen Herod, okay? We've seen foreign nations. I mean, what about the Samaritans though? Well, let's just no stone uncovered, okay? John chapter number four, look at verse 25. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When he is come, he will tell us of all things. Now this is a Samaritan, she's saying, I know that Christ cometh. It sounds like she's anticipating Christ. You'd be hard pressed to find me a person that was not anticipating Christ. I mean, show me, I can show you virtually every one of the Bible anticipating Christ. Show me a person that was not anticipating Christ. I can't find that person. Now you say, well, that was just this one woman, just this one Samaritan. She was like a, she was kind of a faithful Samaritan or something like that, right? Well, no, let's keep reading. Look at verse 26, Jesus saith unto him, I that speak unto thee am he. So notice, Christ also confirmed that he is the Messiah. He is the Christ. Put that in your pipe, John Hagen, smoking, all right? Look at verse 29. Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Now she goes back to her village, she talks to all the people, she says, hey, I found the Christ. This guy is the Christ. She's like, what Christ are you talking about? You know, who is this guy, the Christ? You know, it's like, no, they didn't have to be explained that. They're all anticipating it. Now let's keep reading a little bit. Go to verse 40. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them and he bowed there two days and many more believe because of his own word and said to the woman, now we believe not because of thy saying, but we have heard him ourselves and know that this indeed, that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. So notice, they came, they saw, and they said, you're right, this is the Christ. Why? Because they were anticipating Christ, they saw him, they found him, hey, this is that guy. A lot of people recognize that he was the Christ, didn't they? Now go back to John chapter number one, go back to John chapter number one. Not only did all of these people, of course, let's get to the people that would obviously anticipate him. How about his disciples? Look at John chapter one verse 45, Philip findeth Nathanael and saith unto him, we have found him. Now, can you find something you're not looking for? No. You're not going to find something, you know, the Bible says, who's to find her? The wife find her the good thing and obtain a favor of the Lord. Let me tell you what, you're not going to just accidentally find a wife. You actually have to look for it, okay? And you know what? You didn't just accidentally find Christ, you got to find him. You got to look for him and you say, well, how are they looking for him? They were studying the Scriptures, they were knowing what the Bible says, they were looking at the attributes so that when Christ comes they could recognize, hey, here's that guy. If you don't know who Christ is, he's just going to look like an average Joe to you. He's just going to be the next guy. You're going to be like Pilate and be like, who are you? But you know what, they look at Christ and they're like, this is the Christ, of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did write, Jesus and Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Notice he's saying, hey, I looked in the Bible, I read in Moses, I knew there was a prophet coming and this is that guy. Verse 46, and Nathanael said unto him, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, come and see. He's like, I don't know, Nazareth? Verse 47, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and saith of him, behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. Nathanael saith unto him, whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, before that Philip called thee, when thou was under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the son of God, thou art the king of Israel. So notice he's recognizing the Christ, they're looking for him, he comes and sees him and he recognizes this is the Lord. Now go to 1 John chapter five, 1 John chapter number five. I have three points and my first point's the longest by far, but what's the first point of this sermon, the anticipation of Christ? Everyone's anticipating Christ's coming, I mean everyone. Now what we realize about is this, if they're all anticipating it, then the question is when did he come? About 2,000 years ago. And we know that. Look what it says in 1 John chapter five, verse number 20. And we know that the son of God has come and have given us an understanding that we may know him that is true and we are in him that is true, even in the son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal life. You say, hey Pastor Shelley, how do I know that Christ came? It's called the New Testament, called Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, it's called all the epistles. Hey, the Bible is what tells me that Christ has come. And you know what, when I believed on that Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came and dwelled inside of me and he guides me and leads me into all truth and I know that the son of God has come. And I'm in Jesus Christ. I'm seated in heavenly places. And you know what, the Christ did come. They were anticipating him, but you know what, we're on the other side of that equation. We get to look back to Christ coming. And you know what's the point of celebrating Christmas? It's to remember that Christ came. It's to remember what they anticipated and what's fulfilled was the Messiah's birth, that he came good will toward men. You know, what do most people anticipate on Christmas? Presents, ham, I don't even like ham, okay. I like bacon, but you know, it's like, you know, give me steak or something, right. Now I'm not going to, you know, you can eat the unclean beast, all right. I eat the bacon and the sausage, but you know what, people are anticipating all kinds of things on Christmas Day. You know what, it should cause us to remember and think about what Christ did. You know, think about this. The anticipation of all these people is what? Christ's birth. And you know what, we should remember that type of anticipation and remember it's all about what Jesus did. And there's an attack today on Christmas to forget the true meaning. There's an attack on Christmas just period, you know. And I'm fine. If Santa goes to hell, that's fine with me, okay. That's where he's going anyways. But whether he's white, black, I don't really care, you know. My family always gave me presents in black Santa. I know it's like coming back in style or whatever. But at the end of the day, here's the thing. Christmas is under attack and you know why it's under attack? Because the devil wants people to stop remembering that Christ came. You know, people like Oprah, they're like, I don't say, or Whoopi Goldberg, I don't know. They're all the same. She's like, hey, I don't like to say Merry Christmas, I say Happy Holidays. You know, Happy Holidays is stupid because you know what, there's only one holiday that's happy and that's the birth of Christ. I'm not going to celebrate Hanukkah. I'm not going to celebrate Ramadan. I'm not going to celebrate some, you know, Kwanzaa. I'm not going to celebrate any of the, hey, I don't wish you a happy Hanukkah. Damn Hanukkah. Hey, I'm not going to wish you a blessed Ramadan. You know, cursed be Ramadan, cursed be Allah, cursed be the Hindu God, cursed be Kwanzaa. You know what? Merry Christmas. It's all about Jesus Christ. You say, oh, it's a pagan holiday. How can celebrating the birth of Christ be pagan? And notice the wise men, they're coming to celebrate the birth of Christ. Hey, they're the first worshipers of Christmas. And you know what, they're bringing their gifts to Jesus. They're excited to give, not to receive. They didn't come to see what they could get out of it. They came to see the Lord Jesus Christ. And I hate the commercialization of Christmas. I hate the fact that people are so, oh, what am I going to get? Gimme, gimme, gimme. Here's my Christmas list. It should be thinking about Christ. It should be, hey, Christ gave, so I should give. You know what, Christmas is under attack. And I don't want to say happy holidays. I want to say Merry Christmas. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter number two. Here's my second point, that there is something that we're anticipating. Now, it's not something that I'm looking forward to. But we're anticipating the Antichrist. That's an anticipation that's going to happen. Now, you know what, the third point that I have, my second point is we're anticipating the Antichrist. Third point is we're anticipating Christ. But in order to have Christ, we have to have the Antichrist. And in order for Simeon to die, he had to see Jesus, all right? His was better than ours. But here's the reality. There is an anticipation that's coming. And you know, we looked for Jesus Christ. But we understand, and we're expecting, and we're waiting for that Antichrist to come, and you know, that's going to be a lot of trouble. But look what it says in 2 Thessalonians, chapter number two. Verse one, now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. So now, we're anticipating Christ coming, and he's saying, I don't want anybody afraid, or anybody scared, or to be troubled in any way. Look, it didn't just happen. It's not about to happen. Some things have to take place first. And this is the same when we think about Christ first coming. Didn't something have to happen? Didn't have to be a messenger? Didn't there have to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness? So you know, you have to look for certain signs. And just like they had to anticipate and look for certain signs, we too have to look for certain signs before the coming of Christ. And just like they anticipated his birth, we anticipate the return of Christ. Now, obviously John the Baptist coming and preaching, that's great. I like that sign, but our sign's a little bit different. We have a couple different signs, but we shouldn't be afraid to believe the signs just because they might be negative. There's a lot of churches today, they believe in a pre-trib rapture because they don't want to believe anything negative. Your best life now. Your best life now, Christianity, where everything's prosperous and God will never cause you to have any suffering or any difficulty or anything bad, but that's not the Bible. That's not the life of Christ, that's not the life of Paul, that's not the life of any Christian in the Bible. They all suffered. Show me the Christian in the Bible that never suffered. Show me one. Is there just one? I can't think of a single one. You know why? Because there isn't any. Isn't that silly? Joel Osteen's the only Christian that never has to suffer. You know what, everybody in the Bible did. Now think about 2 Thessalonians 2, look at verse 3. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Now the Bible makes it really clear. It says before Christ can come, two things have to happen, a great falling away and the man of sin being revealed. Now the great falling away, that's pretty vague. But if you look at America and you look at our world today, we're not headed in a good direction. And we're really headed in a bad direction fast. And you know what will really prove this? It's called the sodomite deception. When you look, I mean, in 2009, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, police were raiding and arresting sodomites. And then they got fired for it. That was 2009. Now it's like they're so praised, they're so loved, we're defunding police departments and letting fags called antifa go up and down the street and riot and protest, and they're being praised and loved and adored of the world. That's a pretty big change. And you know what? It's not getting better any time soon. I know you think Trump's going to be your savior, but you know what? He loves the fags too. He promotes the fags too. You're like, I don't know if that's true. Well, watch the sodomite deception. He loves them just like Hillary does or whatever. Hillary's campaign promises of 2016 have turned into Trump's 2020. It's the same garbage from these people. Now, another thing, though, is the mannequin being revealed. Some people say, are you going to recognize the Antichrist when he comes on the scene? I don't think anybody's going to know exactly when the Antichrist comes or exactly what he's doing, but there will be a moment in time when we all just know he's the Antichrist. It's when he's revealed. But here's the thing, if it hasn't been revealed, it's not going to be obvious to everybody. You know what's going to be obvious? A guy dying and then coming back to life three days later and then standing in the temple of God and saying, I'm God. It's going to be real obvious at that point. And then says, everyone has to worship me or die. You're not going to be wondering, did the Antichrist come? I don't know. Is it the COVID vaccine or not? It's like, no. Is it Bill Gates microchip? No. In my personal opinion, people have already been chipped. Did you know that? I think the whole world will probably take chips before the Antichrist comes. Because then they'll just say, oh, you thought this chip was going to be the coming of Christ, but we're all chipped, and where is he? And they're going to mock, and they're going to scoff, and they're going to say, where's the promise of his coming? We're all chipped. And I'm like, well, you have to worship the Antichrist. It's a little bit different than just getting a chip in your hand, like your dog. Now you're like your dog. Congratulations. Go to Revelation chapter 13. You know, the Antichrist coming is not a physical thing, it's a spiritual thing. And you know, I don't want to chip for physical reasons and spiritual reasons. Okay? So I'm not excited. I'm not going to get one no matter what. And I don't recommend getting one even if it's not the mark of the beast, okay? That's another sermon. All right? I'm not going to say, go get chipped. Don't do it. All right? Don't. Revelation chapter 13, look at verse number 1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the names of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. It says in verse number 3, and I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? This sounds like a new religion. They're worshiping the devil, literally. It says, And there was given unto him a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him, to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. So notice a guy is going to come, and he's going to blaspheme the name of God. He's going to blaspheme the God in heaven. He's going to stand in the temple of God. He's going to declare himself to be God. He's going to declare himself to be the Christ. But you know what? Christ has already come. He's an anti-Christ. God is an anti in place of, instead of, a replacement. He's going to try and say he's the real Christ. And you know what? He's the anti-Christ. Look at 1 John chapter 2, 1 John chapter number 2. So what's coming in the future? The anti-Christ. But you know what's right around the corner? Christ. So you know what gets me through that? Knowing that Christ is going to come soon after that. Well, look at 1 John chapter 2, and look at verse number 18. Little children, it is the last time, and as you've heard, that anti-Christ shall come. So what has been told to us Christians? What's something that's going to happen? The anti-Christ is going to come. And it says also, not just one, it says, even now are there many anti-Christ whereby we know that it is the last time. Look, there's lots of people that claim to be the Lord Jesus Christ. There's lots of people that blaspheme who Jesus is and attack him. They're anti-Christ today. They're called Jews. They're the synagogue of Satan. And at the end of the day, they're going to all accept this anti-Christ. The whole world's going to go after the beast. The whole world's going to wander after the beast. The whole world's going to want to accept this ship. They're not going to be like, oh, I don't want to get shipped. They're going to be like, give it to me now. They're going to be excited about it. They're going to be all, yeah, woo. And they're going to kill you for it. Go to Matthew chapter 24. Go to Matthew 24. Well, I thought it was pre-trib. Well, that was a lie. Sorry. Sorry that you have to wait until the anti-Christ comes. But you know what? In great persecution comes great reward. In great persecution comes great heroes of the faith. In great persecution comes great things. All the peaceful times in the Bible we don't read about. So if you want to be like anybody in the Bible, you have to go through some really tough times. You have to go through some difficult oppression and persecution and horrible things. Matthew 24, look at verse 14. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for witness unto all nations. And then shall the end come. I like that part. Hey, the anti-Christ is coming, but you know what else is coming? The gospel being preached in all the world. And you say, how's that going to happen, Pastor Shelley? Steadfast Baptist Church, Pure Words Baptist Church, other like-minded Baptist churches going out and preaching the gospel. And you say, well, I can't wait to quit. Well, you can watch us give the gospel to everybody else because that's what we're going to do. You know what? I'm not afraid of the anti-Christ. The Bible says I'm not supposed to be troubled. Hey, the anti-Christ, he can only kill my body, but he can't kill my soul. Look at verse number 15. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, who so readeth let him understand. Why does he have that parenthesis? He's trying to, hey, look back at Daniel. There's going to be a guy that calls himself God. Look at Revelation. There's a guy that calls himself God. That's the abomination of desolation when he sets up a false image, declares himself God and everybody's worshiping him. You know what's great? This chapter has another part to it. Look at verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming and the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So the Bible says shortly after the antichrist tries to kill every one of the Christians on the planet, Christ is going to come and he's going to save several Christians. He's going to save several of the elect and you know what, they're going to be caught up together with Christ in the clouds. This is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 4. Go to 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 4. So here's my third point. We're anticipating the second coming. We get to anticipate the return of Christ. All the Old Testament prophets, they got to anticipate Christ coming, but we get to anticipate the return of Christ and you know what, as we celebrate Christmas and we're reminded of them anticipating Christ coming, we should remember to anticipate Christ coming too. We have the same thing. Praise the Lord that he's going to come back and save us from this place of suffering. You know it's not hell, but it's still a lot of suffering, a lot of problems, a lot of pain, a lot of difficulty, a lot of fags. Man, I just love to be saved from that. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, look at verse 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with them. Notice he says, hey, if you believe that Jesus died and rose again, you're going to heaven. It didn't say you had to go to church, it didn't say you had to be a good person, it didn't say anything. If you believe in the gospel, you're saved. That's as simple as it is. All those that have died in Christ, Christ is going to bring with them and all those that are still alive and remain are going to be caught up together with them. Notice what it says in verse number 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain in the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Now obviously Christ's coming has got to be one of the most magnificent things that people could have ever seen. You know what? Only a few people got to see it. Only the shepherds, you know, later, much later the wise men came, they got to see things. Only the animals and Mary and Joseph, I mean, it wasn't revealed to everybody. Most people didn't get to see. But you know what? Every eye shall see. Hey, we're going to get to see Christ's coming. And even if you die, you get to see it. You get front row seats. You're going to be the first ones there. The ones on earth will be the second ones coming up, and we'll just be up there with the Lord. Hey, you will see Christ's coming if you're saved, period. Isn't that great? That should be great news. When we think about Christmas and we think about Christ's coming, you say, man, I missed that one. You're not going to miss the next one. Isn't that great news? And that's supposed to give you hope. That's supposed to give you comfort. And not only will you get to see Jesus, you'll get to see all the other saved people. You'll get to see your loved ones. You'll get to see all the other Christians. You get to see Moses. You get to see Elijah. And you get to see Joseph. And even Lot's going to be there. I know a lot of you are really hoping to see Lot. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 23. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body will be reserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at 2 Peter 3, last place of eternal return. So notice, there's another coming. Praise the Lord that we get to see him. You know, I just hope when I see Lot, he says, I really like that Sodomite deception. That was a good film, you know. I wish I had seen that, you know, back in the day. Now look at 2 Peter chapter 3 and look at verse number 1, 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 1. This second epistle, beloved, I now write in you in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first, that there should come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. They're like, oh, he's not coming, it's just the same old, same old, nothing new, you just made it all up, and they're just going to mock and scoff and mock and scoff and then Christ is going to come and they're going to say, you know, they're going to ask the rocks to fall on them and to hide them from the face of him that's sitting on the throne. Hey, the face of the lamb. They're going to be terrified. I want you to look at a few more verses here with me. It says this in verse 11, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, talking about the whole world, what manner persons ought you to be in all holy conversation in godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelt righteousness, wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless, and account the longsuffering our Lord of salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you. Now, I want to finish a few more verses here, but I want you to think about this thought. Why would God allow us to go through more scoffing and more ridicule? Why would God allow the antichrist to come? Why would God allow all these horrible things to happen? Why would God allow us to go through some of the greatest tribulation that mankind has ever seen? Why are these things going to happen? Because, you know, a lot of people read this and be like, if God's so loving and God loves us so much, why are we looking in the future to so much pain and suffering and bloodshed and beheadings and just betrayals of family and evil and all kinds of horrible things? You know, why would God do that? Why would God allow for that? Says the longsuffering. Notice what it says. It says in verse number 14 that we're supposed to be found in peace with him. It says in verse 15, in account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. If God just raptured all of us out of this earth right now, you know what would happen? Everyone else would be damned. You know why he's going to let us keep going through that? For the elect's sake. Hey, can you go through some more suffering just for another person to get saved? And you know what? When there's great persecution and there's great tribulation, more people are going to get saved. More people are going to start waking up and saying, oh wow, this is serious. Oh wow, something's going on. Yeah, there's going to be the atheists. Yeah, there's going to be the reprobates. Oh yeah, this world's going to be wicked. But you know what? There's going to be a lot of people that are going to get saved in those days. And you know what? I need to be willing to go through that suffering for the elect's sake. For more souls to be saved. That motivates me to think, you know what? I don't want every single person outside these walls to die and go to hell. And you know what? If that means I have to suffer more, then so be it. Then so be it. And you know what? It's the longsuffering of God that's allowing them to get saved. God wants them saved too. God loves them too. He doesn't just love you. And you know what? He's going to let us go through that so that we can get them saved. And you know what? We're anticipating Christ's coming. You know how the best way to anticipate it is? By getting people saved. By telling people all about it. By going out and preaching the gospel. Hey, it's Christmas. And it's a great time because people are thinking about Christ. People are more receptive around the time of Christmas. They're more thinking about the spiritual things. And you know what? Since we're anticipating Christ, and the whole world's anticipating Christ, and let me tell you what? They're all anticipating it. Why would they be mocking it if they're not anticipating it? Everybody knows about it. Hey, everybody knew about his first coming? And guess what? The whole world knows about his second coming too. But you know what? We need to go out and preach how to get to heaven. How to enjoy that second coming when Christ comes. And you know, when we anticipate Christmas, I love it. I love anticipating Christmas. I love thinking about Christmas. We have an advent calendar. Our kids put a new thing on every single day. You know? It's the first. It's the second. It's the third. It's the twenty. And they're just getting more excited every single day. And you know what? They're excited about the presents that they're going to get. And I get that. But we need to teach our children that you know what's better than those presents? Is the gift of God. Is what Christ did for us. Is his sacrifice. And I love thinking about Christmas, but I want to bring back the true meaning of Christmas. And I want people to remember, hey, those pesky Christians that keep knocking on my door, they keep reminding about Christ coming. They keep reminding about heaven and hell. That's what Christmas is to them. And when I go out, I'm not going to say happy holidays. You know what I'm going to say? Merry Christmas. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for giving us your son and giving us the anticipation of his return. I pray that you would just provoke and stir up our hearts that when we think about Christmas that we think about what Christ did for us. That he already came and that he's coming again. And that it would motivate us to go out and preach the gospel, knowing that the lost, they need the gospel. That eventually they will have judgment come upon them. And to try and rescue and save as many people as we possibly can get saved. And I pray that you would help strengthen us as we go through times of difficulty or suffering in the future and that we'd realize it's just for more people to get saved. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So I'm going to go to 431, and I'm going to have a couple guys come and pass a candle to you guys. I'm going to have, yeah, just do this side and this side. And what we're going to do is we're going to end up turning out all the lights, okay? So hopefully you can manage that for just a second. But once everybody gets their candle and we're all ready, we're going to turn out the lights, and then I'm going to have this candle lit, okay? And then Brother Marcel is going to come up and I'm going to pass the light unto him. Now if you believe that Judah's got people saved, you won't understand this. But in order for you to get light, you have to have someone else that has light to give you that light, okay? Now what he's going to do, he's going to come down the middle aisle. So if you're sitting on the inside row, he's going to light your candle. Then it's your job to make sure everybody on your row gets that light, okay? It's like preaching the gospel, okay? Someone's going to come and they're going to share the light with you, and then you're going to pass it down your row. So he's going to, Marcel's going to come down the middle row. He's going to light the inside candle of everybody, and then you're going to pass that down, and we're going to sing Silent Night, Holy Night, and then we'll be dismissed. So I'm really excited about this. Just give us another minute and we'll all be situated. All right. You can play a little bit, but I won't start until the lights are out. You're on the first. Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace. Silent night, holy night. Shepherds wake at the sight. Glories stream from heaven afar. Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia. Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born. Silent night, holy night. Son of God, love's pure light. Radiant beams round thy holy face. With the dawn of redeeming grace. Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. Silent night, holy night. Wondrous star, lend thy mind. With the angels let us sing. Alleluia to our King. Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born. Merry Christmas, you are dismissed.