Transcript for:
Revelation 22:16 -Last Christmas- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2023-12-24

Revelation 22, verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and the morning star. Father, we thank you for your Holy Word. We thank you, Lord, that we can rejoice and laugh with the kids and laugh at ourselves and not take ourselves so seriously, Lord, that we lose the meaning of the season, Lord, that we miss out on you, that we lose our joy, that we get all stressed out and and just magnify all the little things going wrong and not be able to enjoy all the great things that are happening around us and not to be able to focus upon you and the giving of your dear Son, Heavenly Father, and the many, many times that we've come together to celebrate his birth that we call Christmas and just been so special, so incredibly, such a blessing in each of our lives, not always without struggles, but Lord, we just so cherish our heritage, our lives being built, being raised up, being edified and encouraged during a time of a Judeo-Christian ethic in America, Lord, where we recognize the true and living God's, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob, the true and living God loves man and sent his only begotten Son, that he would be crucified, buried, raised from the dead, ascended to your right hand and coming again, and Lord, I pray that we in America never lose sight of who we are, who you've made us, and that we never lose sight of, as Christians, Lord, what this means, what this day means, what each and every day means, that in that we're able to celebrate the incarnation, your Son becoming the God-man, the Son of Man, the last Adam, so bless this time as we meditate upon your word, as we study your word, give us great hope and excitement and joy and blessing, the fruit of your Holy Spirit, let your love just abound in our hearts, let us give of the glad tidings, Lord, the good news of your coming kingdom to those who are losing hope, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Would you please be seated? What if this was the last Christmas of our lifetime? What if the Grinch, the gates of hell, cancel America? What if they cancel the church? What if they cancel Christmas, they cancel Jesus in 2024? Revelation 22 16 is the last message in the Bible. It says in the last message, in the last chapter of the Bible, and it's a Christmas message, why is that? Why would the Lord at the very end, in Revelation 22, His last message is a Christmas message? Why would He do that if Christmas was going to be canceled? So we would know there is no canceling of Christmas. Not now, not ever. There will be no last Christmas. Regardless of what the demons want to do, what the devil wants to do, what the globalists want to do, our joy and blessing hinges upon the celebration of the babe of Bethlehem and His birth, His incarnation, and nobody can take that from us. And so whether it's now during the church age, whether it's during the tribulation period, whether it's during the millennium, on into eternity in Revelation 21 and 22, we see that the Lord testifies of Himself that He's the root, the offspring of David, and the bright in the morning star. Christmas is never, ever, ever, on into eternity. Every time you look at Jesus and you see Him in His humanity, like John saw Him in Revelation chapter 5, who's worthy to open the scroll and loose the seal, and He's weeping, and the angel tells Him, don't weep. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, He's prevailed to open the scroll and loose the seal. From, you know, the beginning of time, the Alpha the Omega, it's always, always been about, and will continue to be about, God becoming a man, to be the Savior of the world, to die for your sins, to die for my sins, and we, we're gonna continue to celebrate. Nobody's gonna be able to take this from us. Now, for some here, this might be our last Christmas in that the Lord's gonna cause us to go home and be with Him. So the last Christmas in this body, you know, upon earth, but not into eternity. And for others of us, it might actually be the last Christmas if you don't know Jesus. This might be the best it ever gets for you, all the different times that you've, you've celebrated Christmas. For some of you, you're 20 years old, you may have been, may have been able to celebrate 20 Christmases so far. I've celebrated, this will be my 64th. 64 times I've been able to come together with family and friends, church family, and commemorate, celebrate the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem. I've been able to watch Charlie Brown, and watch these kind of little skits with the kids, and all the different ways that you put lights on your houses, and, and cars, and cards, and colorful, you know, ways that we dress, and the foods, and all the different smells, and the family members, and all the different things that we do during this time of year. And, and it's always, always, always been such a special season, and such a special blessing, and it's not that way for everybody, but for some, some who may be seated here, you haven't come to know Jesus. You've known Him from afar, you've known and heard about Him at the Christmas celebration, but you just don't know Him, and if you don't know Him, then you really don't know what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. You really don't know. We want you to know, we want you to understand that there will be no last Christmas. The incarnation of Jesus will be celebrated for all eternity. Jesus won, the gates of hell did not prevail, the devil, the Antichrist, the false prophet, the wicked dead, the fallen angels. When we're looking in Revelation 22, that's all behind, it's all in the back, it's all been done, it's all over, and we have the more sure word of prophecy from Genesis to Revelation to get the overview, the understanding of what's coming, and when people say that they're gonna cancel Christmas, they're gonna get rid of Christmas, they're gonna live forever, they're gonna live forever without Jesus, without God, you know, the Lord looks from heaven in Revelation 22, He looks and He just laughs. He just laughs at these puny men and their designs and the things they're inspired of the devil to try and deceive and trick people and steal the joy and the blessing. Christmas is a message of eternal victory as Jesus reminds us of who He is. Number one, He says, I am God. The baby of Bethlehem is God, fully God, fully man. This is what we call the incarnation, where Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, takes on the form of a human being. In the book of Hebrews, it said He didn't come as an angel, but He came to you and I as the Son of Man, the God-man, fully God, fully man, as the babe of Bethlehem to die for our sins. He says, I am the root. So Jesus is the great I am. I am the root, the great I am, the self-existent one. He said, I am God. I'm the root. I'm the source of everything. I'm the source of David, the root and the offspring. Where did David emanate from? Where did David come from? David came from me. I'm the source of all things. David came from God, the source of David, the creator of the universe, the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end. Four times in Revelation 1 verse 8, 1 verse 11, 21 verse 6, 22 verse 13, Jesus declares, I am the Alpha, I am the Omega, the beginning, the end, the first and the last. We know how it ends. We know how the book ends. We know how it ends. God hasn't left us in darkness. We're going to continue to celebrate. I mean, sometimes you watch a movie of maybe World War II and it's, the guys are out there in the battlefield and it's Christmas and they have like a ceasefire, right? Everybody knows it's Christmas. Everybody knows, all right, let's just chill. Let's just chill. Let's just quit killing each other for a few hours, you know. Let's celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Do we really believe in him? Why are we out here fighting anyway, you know? You got to wonder. You got to wonder when things are going to get so much better, where God's intention is for things so much better, and how we can just grind it down and lose the whole, the whole meaning and purpose of what's going on. To Moses in the burning bush, the kind of glory of God shown in the burning bush. Burning the bush, but not burning the bush. The bush is still there. The glory of God shining there. And the voice coming out of there to Moses and speaking to Moses. Moses is asking, well, who are you? I don't know you. And he says, I am that I am. I'm the great I am. In Isaiah 43 verse 15, I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. To Cyrus, this is a mind-blowing prophecy. A hundred ninety years before Cyrus is even, even born, the Lord named him. The Lord surnamed Cyrus. Who's Cyrus? The king of Persia. The one who, during the time of the Gentiles, that he would be used of God to overthrow the Babylonians. So in Daniel chapter 5, Belteshazzar, the great grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, is there with the instruments taken from the temple and their party, and they're having a huge party. And the Medes and the Persians are outside the walls and, and Belteshazzar thinks they're impregnable. That there's no way, you know, Cyrus and Darius are going to be able to bring their troops in here. And unbeknownst to them, the Lord prophesied in Isaiah, a hundred ninety years before it happened, that not only am I going to loose the levied gates, I'm going to open up the gates, I'm going to cause them to reroute the Euphrates River, and his armies are going to come up underneath the grates that are going down into the river, and they're going to come into the city of Babylon, and they're going to execute you in one night, Belteshazzar. And Daniel had interpreted for Belteshazzar, many, many, tekel yufarsin, you've been weighed in the balance, you're found wanting, your kingdoms divided and given to the Medes and the Persians, and Cyrus comes into the, you know, into Babylon that very night, and Daniel the prophet is able to show him in the book of Isaiah, where God had surnamed him, a hundred ninety years before. So when the Lord says I'm the root of David, he's saying I'm the source of David. When he says to Jeremiah, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you. How could you know me? How could you know me before you even formed me in my mother's womb? Because I'm the Alpha, I'm the Omega, I'm the root, I'm the source of David, I'm the source of everything, it all comes from me, right? He says I'm the Lord, the Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. He said I have surnamed thee, Isaiah 45 verse 4, though thou has not known me Cyrus, I'm the Lord and there is none else, there's none beside me, I girded thee, though thou has not known me. Jeremiah, before I formed in your mother's womb, I knew you and I ordained you a prophet unto God. Before God formed you, he knew you, he knew you, he knew all about you, he knew more about you than you even know about you, and his plan for you is an eternal plan. It has no cutoff date, it has no shelf life. Before everything even started, Jesus is the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the earth, before creation, God had a plan and purpose that his son would be the babe of Bethlehem, that his son would be the root and the offspring of David, the bright in the morning star, the Savior of the world, and so too for you. You're not an accident, it's not a mistake that you're here, it's not a mistake that you know God, it's not a mistake that you've come to know him. Everything's been planned, everything's been working together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Jesus is the great I am. In John 6 35 he says, I'm the bread of life, he that believes in me is never gonna hunger or thirst. Who could say that? I'm a poached egg, you know, who can say that? You either are or you aren't. As C.S. Lewis said, he's either Lord or he's a lunatic. Who could say the things that he's saying if he weren't God? Only God could say these things. Jesus said, I'm the light of the world. You believe in me, you won't walk in darkness. Jesus said in John 8 58 to the religious leaders, before Abraham was, I am. I'm the great I am, I'm the egoe me, I'm almighty God. In John 10 9 Jesus said, I'm the door. You got to go through me to get to my sheep. Jesus said in John 14 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me, the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. In John 10 Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. In John 11, Mary and Martha are watching. Jesus says, Lazarus has died. He delayed his coming there. You could have saved him if he got here sooner. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Who could say that? Only Jesus. And then he demonstrates it by raising Lazarus from the dead. He's not just a talker. In John 15 verse 5 he says, I'm the vine. Just as he says, David, you know, I'm the root and David the offspring. I'm the vine and you're the branches. I'm your source. You were outsourced through me. I'm the vine, you're the branches. Abide in me and as life flows into you and I. And that's how we bear fruit, by abiding in the vine. In Revelation 117, he says, fear not. I am the first and I am the last. The beginning and the end. The Alpha, the Omega. I am the root. I am the source of David. Do you know your God? Secondly, he says, I'm your gift. Do you know me? I'm your God, but I'm also your gift. I'm a gift from the Father unto you. For God so loved you that he gave the Babe of Bethlehem unto you. That he gave Jesus unto us. He gave the Son of Man unto us. And the offspring of David. I'm the offspring of David. In John chapter 1 verse 1, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything made that was made. And then you go down to verse 14. And the Word became flesh. The Word. The incarnate Word. The eternal Word. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. The Word was God. And the Word became flesh. What does that mean? It means the Babe of Bethlehem. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His beauty as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. God became a human being. God became the Babe of Bethlehem. Jesus lived a perfect life for 33 years. Nobody could find fault in Him. Pilate says, Pilate said, I find no fault in Him. He's an innocent man. Which of you convicts me of sin? You know? He came to fulfill the law. Our first federal head, Adam, our human representative upon the earth was given a perfect environment. The Garden of Eden. And a perfect wife. For a while. Yeah, I won't touch that. Alright. And you know the story. They played the blame game. It was the serpent. It was the woman. So our first federal head he was told to be fruitful to multiply. Take dominion over the earth. And he fell. He transgressed. He sinned. Missed the mark. The little g-god of this world, Lucifer, an angel, became the god of this world. The prince of the power of the air. And Jesus, when Jesus was tempted in Matthew 4, Satan took Jesus up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. If you bow down and worship me, I'll give you all these kingdoms. You can bypass the cross. You don't need to suffer. You can have the crown without the crown of thorns. Without the cross. And Jesus said, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve. Be gone, Satan. Get out of here. Not going to take the bait. Not going to go that way. But he didn't refute the fact that Satan had the authority in that way because man had failed. Man had given up that dominion over the earth and gave it over to Lucifer in Isaiah 14, his desire, his five valuable statements that he would be as God. He's the counterfeit God the Father. His Antichrist that's coming is the counterfeit God the Son. The false prophet, the counterfeit Holy Spirit. People can just see that. It's all a counterfeit. It's all propaganda. It's all smoke and mirrors. Yeah, he has some authority, but it's a delegated authority. He needs to get permission in what he does. The key issue is faith. Will your faith stand? Will your faith take you through as you go through these things? Your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The only way to trust Him is you've got to know Him. You can't trust somebody you don't know. And he says, I'm your gift. I'm God incarnate. I'm Jesus. I'm the Messiah in the Hebrew. In the Greek, I'm the Christ, the anointed one, the promised Messiah. I'm Emmanuel. I'm God with you. In Genesis 3.15, God promised that the seed of the woman, the virgin born Son of God, that His heel would be bruised but that He'd crush the serpent's head. In Isaiah 14, 700 years before Jesus was born, we're told that the virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son and will call His name Emmanuel, God with us. In 2 Samuel 7, David wanted to build the Lord a house. David had a nice palace. He's finally in Jerusalem and he looks over and he sees the Lord, you know, His tabernacle there. We need to build Him a temple. We need to build Him a church. Build Him a building and all that. And Nathan the prophet said, David, that which is in your heart is a good desire. Keep praying on it. Think on it. And the Lord came to Nathan and said, Nathan, no. No, David is a man of war. His hands are too bloody. But David, go back and, I mean, Nathan, go back and tell David that I'm going to build him a house. I'm going to build him a dynasty. I'm going to build him a dynasty where the Messiah is going to come forth from His loins. The Messiah is going to be the root and the offspring of David. And David rejoiced. Oh, who am I? Why would you allow this to happen to me? Why would you do this for me, you know? And he says, Thine house and Thy kingdom shall be established forever before Thee. Thy throne shall be established forever. And then we get to Malachi or we get to Matthew chapter 1 and it starts out with a lineage, doesn't it? It starts out with a lineage of Jesus. Because in 70 A.D. when Titus surrounded the city of Jerusalem and destroyed the city, there were no genealogical records left. But the book, the Bible, the New Testament in Luke chapter 3 and then in Matthew chapter 1 we have the lineage of Jesus. We have the lineage of Jesus in Matthew 1 that's going to go through His stepfather, that of Joseph. This is the royal kingly line because He's from the line of tribe of Judah. He's from the house of David. And so He has right to the throne of Israel, the legal right as emphasized and as proven in Matthew's account. There's a curse upon Jeconiah that happened after the time of Solomon. And so because of Coniah, he's known as, we'll see in Luke chapter 3 that the lineage switches to another son of David, that of Nathan. And so the genealogy in Luke's account goes from Heli, who's the stepfather of Joseph, the father of Mary. And so from Heli it goes all the way back to Abraham, all the way back to Adam. Jesus is the last Adam because of the Adam bomb. First Adam bombed, right? That's a John Corson one. Then he'll laugh at it. Corny, right? Corny jokes, but you'll get the point. The Adam bomb. The last Adam, he's not going to fail. The generation of the son of David, the son of Abraham, Jesus the man, the Jew. He's a Jew. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from the tribe of Judah, from the family of David, through Joseph, through Mary, unto Adam, Jesus the son of man, the God man, the last Adam. Micah 5 verse 2, where is he going to be born? In Bethlehem, 500 years before he's born. We're told Bethlehem, the babe of Bethlehem. Now turn to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Now Mary and Joseph are betrothed to each other, which means they haven't consummated the marriage just yet. It's an arranged marriage. They're to be apart from each other until they get to the, you know, as children. And then as they get to the point of almost ready to be married, there'll be a year of separation to prove the purity of Mary. And then after that year, they could come together with the ceremony at the father's house. And then after seven days, come back to the brides. And so you have the betrothal period, you have the ceremony, you have the fetching, excuse me, the betrothal period, the fetching, the ceremony, and then the marriage supper. Four different stages that we see emphasized with the rapture that's coming. The ten virgins, Matthew 25, five are ready, five weren't. We have the Holy Spirit, we have the oil, we're ready. We're waiting for the Lord to come fetch us. And when He fetches us, because we're already betrothed to Him, we're the bride of Christ, then He's going to take us to heaven according to John 14, 1-3, right? Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions, if it weren't so, I tell you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am, there you may be also. That's the fetching, that's the rapture. Nobody knows the moment, nobody knows the day or the hour. You've got to be watching, you've got to be ready. Then you're there in heaven, the ceremony. The bema seat judgment takes place and He lavishes you with gifts as His bride, crowns, all of it. And then, after seven days, maybe seven years, the tribulation period, then you return with Him. You return with Him, and every eye's going to see Him, because He's going to be that star of Bethlehem. He's going to be that bright and morning star, isn't He? He's going to be that star out of Jacob. The Shekinah glory of God's going to shine so bright, and you shining so bright in your new garments as you're coming back to earth. He's going to destroy the Antichrist with the brightness of His coming. The Shekinah glory of God and the sword of His mouth. And that takes place, and He goes to Basra, and He rescues the wife of Jehovah. He rescues the nation of Israel. And then He makes His victory as He comes across the valley of Megiddo, the valley of Jezreel, the valley of Jehoshaphat. And He comes up the Mount of Olives. The city bursts in two, and so Jesus sets His foot on the Mount of Olives. Thereafter, the blood is as high as the horse's bridle. He comes in to the city in His triumphal entry, and then there's a 75-day interval. Blessed is He that comes the 1335th day as He's getting rid of the abomination of desolation that was in the temple, cleaning things up, restoring the earth back to an Edenic condition, removing the curse. And what inaugurates, what starts the millennial rule and reign of Jesus, which is the thousand-year rule and reign, is the marriage supper of the Lamb. And John the Baptist is there, the friend of the bridegroom. And you and I are there seated in Luke chapter 12. And Jesus takes His outer garment, and He pulls it up with a sash, just as He washed the feet of His disciples in John 13. And He serves you, His bride. That's the picture of the marriage supper of the Lamb. For a thousand years you're going to rule and reign with Him as kings and priests. At the end of that thousand years, you're going to enter into the eternal state, a new heaven, a new earth, the new Jerusalem coming out of the sky. You're in your new glorified bodies. And He says His last message, His last message is, I'm the root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star. Christmas is essential. Nobody's going to cancel Christmas. Jesus is God's gift to humanity. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. The call goes out to whosoever will, whosoever will, let Him come. The invitation holds true presently. Let Him come. If you reject Jesus, if you continue to reject Him as God's gift to you, especially here at Christmas, you're responsible for that information year after year after year. Sixty-four Christmases I've celebrated. The first nineteen, I didn't know Him. I didn't know who He was. My twentieth, I got to know Him. I know who He is. I know the reason for the season. I know why we do this. And I know why we're going to continue to do this. It's an expression of God's eternal love toward humanity. He's going to still bear the scars when we see Him. John saw Him as a lamb that had been slain. But a reminder that God became a man. He wanted to identify with you. Not identify with angels, but identify with you as the Son of Man. Eighty-one times He describes Himself as the Son of Man, to identify with humanity, to identify with you. And on into eternity He continues to want to be remembered as, and known as, the root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star. Luke chapter 2. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Look at the authority there. God moving these little pawns. In Revelation 17, 17 it talks about how God is putting into the hearts of these globalists what He wants them to do. The stage is being set for the biggest win ever. Wiping out all these globalists with all their technology, with the brightness of His coming and the sword of His mouth. And they're done. As in a moment. And God has taken the greatest authority upon the planet at this time, Caesar Augustus, because he needs to get Mary and Joseph to move from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Because they can't have this baby in Nazareth. They've got to have this baby according to Micah 5.2 in Bethlehem, the house of bread. And so this taxation causes Mary and Joseph to have to leave their home with Mary Greatwoodchild to get on the donkey and take this like 90 mile trek to Bethlehem, the house of bread. And there's no room for them in the end. She's going to take and put them in a little bassinet, you know, in the barn, right? The manger. And the taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria and all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth under Judea, under the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, the house of bread, because he was of the house and lineage of David. To be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being Greatwoodchild. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the end. No room for Jesus in the end. Nobody had any room for him. Noah preached for 120 years, a preacher of righteousness. He's preaching, telling people, get in the boat, get in the boat. There's plenty of room. There's plenty of room. Get in the boat. 120 years. The animals, they were smart enough to get in the boat. But only eight people got in that boat after 120 years of preaching. They looked at Noah as a nut job. You're crazy. Everything's going to continue as it always has. Just as it always has. And yet here in Bethlehem, the babe of Bethlehem, he's there at the house of bread, and there's no room for him in the end. Is there room for Jesus in your heart today? Is there room in your heart that he can be enthroned in your heart? And they were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over the 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 so afraid. Why shepherds? It's the most low, menial position within this culture. Not before kings and queens and all the nobility. Jesus identifies with these shepherds, doesn't he? Because he's the chief shepherd. He's the great shepherd. He's the good shepherd. And the light shining so bright, the babe of Bethlehem, the star of Bethlehem shining. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Prophecy is not doom and gloom. The volume of the book is written of him. It's his story. Why would churches not teach prophecy? Why would they not teach the coming of Jesus Christ for his bride, for his church? It's not doom and gloom. It's good news. I bring you good news, he says, 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. You 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 and goodwill toward men. Peace and goodwill. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. No pleasure, but that the wicked turn from their sin. That's why you have had 50 Christmases to figure it out. That's why you've had 30 Christmases, 20 Christmases, whatever it is. Each and every Christmas, the Lord said, Hey, what's the meaning of this day? Why did I send my son to Bethlehem? Why did my son become a man? I went to catechism when I was about 12 years old, Catholic catechism. Made me angry. Every Tuesday I had to miss a baseball practice. And I had to go there and learn, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, the Lord Jesus. Now I remember that stuff, but I had no idea what it meant. No idea at all. Later I wore a Christopher, because all the surfer guys wore Christopher's. I don't know why. St. Christopher. My grandma bought me a St. Christopher. So I was kind of on the fringes, right? The fringes. But nobody shared the gospel with me. Nobody ever shared who Jesus is. I remember some of the holidays at grandma's house. You know, my grandpa would pray and then everybody would snicker and laugh. It's like a big joke. And everybody would start drinking and gambling. And they were nice drunks. It was a friendly day. It was a good day, a fun day, a celebratory day. Presents exchanged, great food, family. But nobody told me about Jesus. Not until a friend of mine invited me to a concert in January of 1980. So I'd spent 19 Christmases in my 20th year, starting with January, I came to know Jesus. And thereafter, every Christmas had a far greater meaning, far greater purpose and understanding of what's going on. My life every day thereafter became different. There was meaning, there was purpose. I knew that God loved me. I knew that God chose me for the foundation of the earth. I knew that God took on the form of a man. That He went to the cross and suffered for me. Suffered in my place. That He died for my sins. That He was a gift from God. The gift of God. And it came to pass as the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go into Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us. Has God made known Himself unto you? Is God revealing Himself unto you? And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph in the bay, blind in a manger. And when they had seen Him, 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 then it goes on to describe how Mary and Joseph took little Jesus on the eighth day and gave some turtle doves and gave the offerings prescribed for the firstborn son and met Simeon and Anna and all that happened there. And Simeon is prophesying over Mary saying, there is a day coming where your heart is going to be pierced. This is a glorious day. You are the magnificent that you cry out that you would be thought worthy to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. But there is a day coming as Mary, the mother of Jesus, where you are going to look in horror as He is crucified, as He suffers. And she is holding on to these things the rest of her life, wondering what is up. And for the rest of their marriage, Mary and Joseph are dealing with people snickering and gossiping, slandering, saying, you know, they had sex before they got married. At the first miracle of Jesus when He is 30 years old at the wedding of Cana and Galilee, interesting at a wedding, they ran out of wine. And she told her son, they have run out of wine. And he says, what is that to me? It means nothing to me. And she is like, you guys do what he tells you to do. They are snickering, everybody is snickering. Every time I go to a wedding, everybody is snickering that Mary and Joseph, we were not married. They are liars. They don't believe me. And even the brothers of Jesus did not believe that He is the Messiah until after the resurrection. Mary believed. Joseph has probably gone on to be with the Lord. He is not around anymore. But Mary held these things and pondered them in her heart year by year. And Jesus told them to put the water in those jugs, and the water He turned to wine. Validation, confirmation. He is who I told He was. In John 8, the religious leaders threw it back in Jesus' face. We weren't born of fornication. He had a reputation. He was the son of Mary and Joseph the carpenter. There were those who said He is the Messiah. Those were those who celebrated Christmas, but didn't know who He was. Some did. Very few did. But Mary knew. And she pondered these things in her heart. In 2 Corinthians 9, verse 15, it says, Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. In Isaiah 9, verse 6, we read 700 years before Jesus comes on the scene, Unto us a child is born, the babe of Bethlehem. Unto us a son is given, the Savior of the world. And the government shall be upon His shoulder, His destiny. Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. And His name shall be called, Who do you know, Him ask? What are your needs here? He's Jehovah Jireh. He provides her, right? He's the Becoming One. He's the Great I Am. He's your source. Whatever you may need, He's the Great I Am. And the government shall be upon His shoulder, His name shall be called, Wonderful Counselor. When you're confused, when you're anxious, can you turn to Jesus and allow Him to counsel you? Can you turn to His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and allow the Comforter to counsel you? To counsel you through His Word, with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, as you get to know Jesus, as He reveals Himself unto you, His Child, the Mighty God. Any problem you've ever had that's too great for Him, is anything hard for God? The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. Philip says, Show us the Father and that will suffice. Have I been such a long time with you, Philip? And you don't know me? You don't know me? He that has seen me has seen the Father, Philip. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me, Philip. The Prince of Peace. He came and He's offering peace. Peace towards all men. Put the sword down. Quit fighting me. Quit resisting me. Surrender unto me, to my Lordship in your life, and you will experience peace. The peace of God, peace with God, and then of God. Peace within your heart, no longer tormented within your heart, but a peace, a rest. Cease working. Rather, enjoy the gift. Enjoy who God is. In the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end. To order it with David and with Jesus as King, no end. Eternal. He's the root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star. Here in His love, 1 John 4, 10. You want to know what love is? Here in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins, the sacrifice for our sins, the atonement, the atonement, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That's love. Greater love has no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I choose to lay it down for you. I choose for the joy that's set before me to endure the cross, to despise the shame, to be seated at the right hand of the Father. The joy of saving you is why I came. The joy of writing your name in the Lamb's book of life. The joy of pouring my heart out upon you, my love upon you for all eternity. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star. On into eternity. He was born of a virgin to be crucified, to be buried, to be raised, to ascend, to come in glory. I'm your God, and I'm your gift, and thirdly and finally, I am the great I am. He says, I'm your glory. I'm your glory. I'm the bright morning star, and you reflect me. And one day, I'm going to change you, and you're going to enter into glory. You're going to have a new glorified body. No more crying, no more sorrow, no more sin. The bright and the morning star, the Christmas star of Bethlehem. In Matthew 2 verse 1, 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. All the way from Babylon, as a result of Daniel's ministry of being there for 70 years, right? And now these guys are astrologers. They're looking at the stars, the Maserat, and they see a star, but it's different. That bright and morning star, many say was the star Venus, that comes up in the morning toward the end. It's the brightest one out there. It's Venus that people would look at, the pagans. But Jesus is that bright and morning star. The star speaks of the Shekinah glory of God. The Shekinah glory that's shown brighter at 12 noon, when Saul of Tarsus saw light shining brighter than the sun. And these wise men, these Magi, they come from the east. They come from Babylon. And they say we saw his star. Unmistakable. This is not a normal star. This star is moving. This star is guiding us. And now it's going to hover over the house. And show us right where the babe is. Two years later, he's in a house. He starts out in the manger. But Mary and Joseph wind up living in a house with a young child, not quite two years old at this point. And he says, saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When they had heard the king, they departed, and lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. Now we know of shooting stars, stars that move, but not like this. This is the Shekinah glory of God. This is the burning bush. This is Jesus coming in his glory and every eye will see him. This is Jesus coming back in his glory and the Antichrist, the false prophet, all of them being destroyed because of the brightness of his coming. He says in verse 10, when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary and his mother and fell down and worshipped him. You ever going to bow down and worship a two-year-old baby? Ever seen adults do that? I can barely get down on the ground and get back up. How old were these guys? Somebody help me up. And when they had opened their treasures, they didn't come empty-handed. They came with something to give. They presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh, gold for a king. Balaam, a false prophet, prophesied in Numbers chapter 20, verse 17, that there shall come a star out of Jacob. A star out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. Gold for a king. He's king of kings. He's lord of lords. He's the lion of the tribe of Judah, the kingly tribe. He's the root and the offspring of David, the Davidic covenant. Gold for a king. Then incense. Incense for a priest. Frankincense for a priest. He's prophet, priest, and king, isn't he? They're bringing incense to commemorate Jesus is our great high priest. Jesus is alive in heaven and he ever lives to make intercession for you and I. There's now therefore no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. The devil is the accuser of the brethren. Always accusing, in Revelation 12, using the letter of the law to destroy, condemn, and get in your head and make you feel so unworthy of this gift that God's given you. And yes, we are unworthy. That's why we worship him. We ascribe worth unto him. You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor, and power. For thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created, O Lord. You are worthy. He ever lives to make intercession for us. Father, they belong to me. Father, I died upon the cross of Calvary for them. Their lives are inscribed in my scars. Their lives are inscribed in my heart. And then the myrrh. The myrrh is for burial. The burial of a prophet. Which of the prophets did not your fathers kill? God sent prophet after prophet to the nation of Israel and they killed each one. John the Baptist was the last of the prophets. Greatest of all the prophets and the least in the kingdom is greater than John. You have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in you and upon you. You have greater understanding. In John 5 verse 43, Jesus said, I came in my father's name and you received me not. Another, the Antichrist shall come in his own name and him you will receive, nation of Israel. You're going to be deceived. You're going to sign a covenant with this guy. And 1260 days in, you're going to watch as he goes into the temple that he helps you rebuild. And he's going to declare himself to be God and demand to be worshipped as God. And everyone's going to have to receive a mark on the right hand of their forehead. He's going to have complete authority of every single person upon the planet. And a multitude, innumerable multitude of people in Revelation 6 and 7 say, not on my watch. Not going to happen to me. I'm not going to bow down and worship you. I'm not going to put the mask on. I'm not giving in. Nebbe, you can heat the fire seven, fourteen times greater. We're still not going to bow down and worship your golden image. And we're not careful how we answer you either. It's a no. It's non-negotiable. It's a no. And there are people like that all throughout history. They have it settled within their heart ahead of time what they're going to do, what they're not going to do. Have you settled it in your heart what you're going to do? When they come along to try and cancel Christmas? When they come along to try and cancel America? Cancel your way of life? Throw you into a FEMA camp? Guess what? You can still celebrate Jesus in a FEMA camp. Nobody can stop you from celebrating Jesus. Doesn't matter every single day that you're alive, that you're breathing, you can celebrate Jesus. Every day is a Christmas for you and I. He's the root and the offspring of David. The bright and morning star. He's coming again. He's coming for us. We don't care what these pretenders have to say. He's our glory. In Luke 178, Zechariah he and Elizabeth couldn't have a child. And God came to Mary and the angel of the Lord you're going to be pregnant and your cousin Elizabeth she's old but she's pregnant. She's like Sarah. She's already pregnant. When Zechariah found out, he's blown away. And he couldn't believe it and he became mute. And they said his name's John. Excuse me, they said Zechariah and he said no his name's John. He says, through the tender mercy of our God, Luke 178 whereby the day spring from on high has visited us. It's a new day. It's a dawning of a new day. The bright and the morning star. The star is rising. The day spring is rising in our hearts today. You've been walking in darkness. You haven't known who God is. And the day spring, that star of David, that star of Bethlehem is a person. And he's rising within your heart. The darkness is being dispelled. The bright light of who God is is warming your heart. Illuminating your heart and mind. God's revealing himself unto you as Zechariah says. The day spring from on high has visited us. To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. To guide our feet in the way of peace. Jesus wants you to share in his glory of eternal life. Eternal glory. In 2 Peter 2 19, Peter says, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. We're eyewitnesses of Jesus. We handled him. We touched him. Thomas put his finger in when the centurion pierced the pericardium of his heart. We saw his hands and his feet. We handled him. And that's great evidence in a courtroom of law. But we have even greater evidence. We have the more sure word of prophecy. We have 300 prophecies being fulfilled in his first coming. And you do well to take heed. You do well to study. You do well to dig in and to look further. We have a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. Has the day dawned? Has the day star risen in your heart? The joy of the Lord is our strength. Nobody can take the joy of the Lord away from you and I. No matter how many threats. No matter how much they try and steal your joy. No matter how many movies Obama, and I don't know what that other thing is he's with but no matter how much they have a production company and they presently put out a movie on Netflix of the cyber attack and letting go of America. It's called predictive programming. Trying to get you conditioned to just let it go. When Kathy's shopping at Costco and shopping at Traders and shopping presently. People are buying like they know it's the last Christmas. This might be it. People are going crazy buying. The economy is going down. The dollar is going down. This may be it. This may be the last Christmas as we've known it. She's saying Rick they're taking down the Christmas stuff. They're putting up Valentine's stuff. We've got a week to go. What are they doing? It's predictive programming. They're letting you know that BlackRock doesn't like Christmas. And only those that cooperate with BlackRock will be in business next year. It's not about making money. It's about conditioning. It's about control. It's about influencing. Larry Fink said. With their ESG's that they're going to bring. Their environmental social governance. Only companies like Target and Disney that comply with the globalist bankers are going to be in business. And they're going to be in business pushing a social agenda that doesn't include Christmas. Unless it's a satanic Christmas. Found in Revelation 11 when the two witnesses are slain. Everybody begins to send presents to each other. The earth dwellers. You're not an earth dweller. They're celebrating the death of these two witnesses. Your citizenship is in heaven. Satan's a counterfeit isn't he? Not going to steal my joy. I don't need all that stuff. We'll find a way. We'll find a way to have just as much fun next year in celebrating Jesus. They can't take it. They can't take it. I'll sing it with MC Hammer. You can't touch me. I'll sing it. It can't happen. How many Christmas holidays have you celebrated in your lifetime? The day star rose in my heart when I was 20. The star of Jacob introduced himself as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The star of Bethlehem guided my feet in the way of peace unto Jesus my Savior. How many years has the day spring from on high visited you at Christmas? I always love Christmas. So exciting. I just, I love that it galls certain people. They just hate it. And they go to Hawaii. And they go somewhere else, away from all you people saying Merry Christmas. Alan was at Costco the other day this week and he said I shouted it really loud Rick, Merry Christmas. They don't like that do they? Happy Holidays. No, Merry Christmas. And I'm so blessed to see so many people lighting up their houses this year. You know, just lighting it up. People realizing, you know, Christmas is special. They can't say going to church is non-essential. We're an essential part of our culture. Jesus is the most essential. And they can't tell me that I can't worship, that I can't sing, that somehow, you know, I'm going to pass on their propaganda, their COVID lies. Now they don't even want you to breathe. Now they want you to hold your breath, you know. The objective is to kill everybody. And we know it. And don't touch my meat. Don't touch my Christmas ham or Christmas prime rib or steak or whatever. You leave my meat alone. You want bugs, you eat bugs. We're going to kill the fatted calf. And we're going to celebrate. Because I was dead and now I'm alive. I was blind and now I see. Do you know him? Jesus says, I testify. I'm testifying. I am the root and the offspring of David. The bright and the morning star. I'm not hidden. I'm not hidden. This wasn't done in a corner. It's wide open throughout all of history. It's all about Jesus of Nazareth. It's all about the babe of Bethlehem. It's all about him. He's the bright and the morning star. The pagans look up and see Venus. We look up and we worship the true and living God. Each and every day. Each and every day to be warmed by his love. To turn to him no matter what evil, no matter what wickedness, no matter what darkness tries to engulf and steal our joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Do you know him? Search the scriptures, Jesus said, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they which testify of me. You want to get to know God? Read his word. Get into the word. He that has the son has life. He that does not have the son of God has not life. And this is the record that God has given us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Jesus is not hidden. His glory is brighter each and every morning, each and every day. His love for you and I grows. Can you picture that? God's love for you grows. How could God's love for you grow? Each and every day his love grows for you. He's falling more and more in love with you and I. Each and every Christmas morning, throughout all eternity, his love for you and I continues to grow. Last Christmas? Is this the last Christmas? Is this your last Christmas? Only if you've rejected God's gift. The only way this is your last Christmas, or potentially could be your last Christmas, is if you have rejected the gift of God, Jesus Christ. You will not experience his glory. You will not have a new glorified body. You will live in eternity in shame, in a place called hell, where the devil and the fallen angels are, those who have refused. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their sin. God's not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance. He cries out, Turn ye, turn ye, for why would you die in your sins, O house of Israel? God is waiting. I've experienced 64 Christmases. 64 times I've with family and friends to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. 19 of those, I didn't know why we were getting together. But from the time of January of 1980 to the present, every single day of my life has been a Christmas morning. A Christmas. Meditating upon the gift of Jesus Christ. God, why me? Why would you choose me? Why would you send your son, first of all, and then the descending of your son? Why me? Why would you choose me? Why would you open my eyes, my heart? I've got a lot of family members. I've got a lot of friends. They still don't get it. They still celebrate Christmas, but they don't get it. They're not there yet. Are you there? In Ephesians 2 6 says, He has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, as we're reading this, we're in what's called the church age. The church age began at Pentecost, or a little before that when Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, receive ye the Holy Spirit. But we take Acts 2 as the start of the church age. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past through the prophets, has in these last days, Hebrews 1, spoken unto us by his son. And so, in the church age, the church ends in Romans 11 verse 25 when the fullness of the Gentiles are come in. When that last Gentile, the gospel goes out to Jew and Gentile, when that last person finally responds in the church, the Lord knows who he is, that will be the period of time where the bright morning star twinkles. That twinkle is the rapture. Little twinkle. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, right? And we're caught up. So the dead in Christ arise first, and we that shall live and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with the Lord. And there's going to be a twinkling, right? A twinkling of an eye. It happens so quick. And that'll be the end of the church age. They were after what's called the tribulation period, the time of Jacob's trouble, the 70th seven of Daniel. 69 sevens were accomplished in his first coming, but there's one seven-year period of time pertaining to the nation of Israel. And Paul makes it real clear. Romans 9 is Israel's past election. Romans 10 is Israel's present rejection. Romans 11, her future restoration after the consummation, the finishing up of the church age. Time of Jacob's trouble, where God saves a one-third remnant. We read in Jeremiah 31, our Monday night study, where God causes a one-third remnant to be born again. Two-thirds, Zechariah 13, 8 and 9, Paris. During that fire of the tribulation period where God purifies this remnant, they're not going to see the Lord until they say, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. And they cry out from Basra, from Petra. And Isaiah 63 describes Jesus as trampling out the vintage, and his outer garment is just stained with grapes, stained with the wrath, stained with the blood of his enemies. It's then that he ushers out, that he leads out as the Antichrist has come to destroy that last remnant of Israel, the woman of Revelation 12. Jesus, except those days be short and no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, Jesus intervenes. He comes in the Shekinah glory. Every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. There's no mistake in his coming. Bright, bright light. Every eye is going to see him. It's over. It's over. Man's rule and reign is over. The times of the Gentiles is over. The nation of Israel will be exalted. David will rule and reign as prince, and Jesus as king of kings and lord of lords for a thousand years. At the end of the tribulation, at the end of the millennium, we get into Revelation 21 and 22, the eternal age. Eternity. Jesus says in eternity, Revelation 22, 16, I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. All eternity we're going to be learning of the kindness, of the loving kindness of a God who makes us the object of his love. Why was I made lord? Why am I here? Why am I celebrating Christmas? Because God loves you. Because God became a baby. Because God grew up to be a man. Because he lived a perfect life. Because he went to the cross of Calvary to die for your sins. He gave up his own life to save you. Christmas is only canceled for those who do not know him. Do you know him? How many Christmases have you known him? How many Christmases have gone by and you still don't know him? In Jeremiah 9 verse 23, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glories glory in this. You want to glory? You can glory in that you understand and know me. That I'm a God who exercises loving kindness and justice and righteousness in the earth and these things I delight, saith the Lord. In John 17 verse 3, this is eternal life that you might know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. Do you know God? If you know God, you're going to be entering into his glory. You're going to be entering into glory in your new glorified body. You're being changed from glory to glory presently. You're being sanctified. You're being molded and shaped into the image of Christ. And when you see him, beloved, now are we the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear that we shall be like him. We'll know him as he is. And he that has this hope in him, this hope of what? This hope of Jesus returning to grab you, to take you. He that has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. A purifying hope of watching, of looking for Jesus to return for you for his bride. It's not hidden. Just as the sun is coming up this morning and going to go down and come up again tomorrow, he's not hidden. He's the bright star and the morning star. The root and the offspring of David. He's the savior of the world. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you, Lord, that Christmas will never be canceled. That on into eternity we are going to celebrate your son. We're going to celebrate just how excited he was, how excited he is to be the God-man, the son of man. That he in all of his glory, of all the different forms that he could have taken on, as Philippians 2 describes him, that he being God thought it not robbery to be with God, but made himself of no reputation and took on the form of a man. The incarnation. He chose to identify with us, human beings, that we could know you. Father, we pray evermore that we not be stagnant, that we not be lukewarm, but that we be excited, excited for another day to celebrate Christmas. Another day to celebrate you each and every day as one man esteems one day above another, another man every day alike. Every day's a day to enjoy you, Lord. And we pray today, Lord, this day, tomorrow, every day, Lord, that we would reflect, that we would shine bright. You said we're the light of the world. We're a city set on a hill. We pray that we would reflect your glory, reflect your purity in who you are. God, we pray that our children would be thirsty, they'd be hungry, they'd want to know the light of the world. They'd want to participate in enjoying the bread of life, the great I am. Father, help us to pass on, to pass on to the children, to pass on to the young adults, to pass on those behind us how significant, how important it is to know Jesus. The greatest, greatest days of our lives is when we come to know you. Let it never get old. Let it never be lukewarm. May our hearts become aflame today, Lord. Fill us to overflowing with your love. Fill us with your joy, joy unspeakable and full of glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.