So like I said, the Holy Spirit is sometimes a very quiet, soft-spoken, sometimes out-of-the-picture character in the story. So I want to draw your attention first to the gospel of Luke in chapter 1. Luke's gospel is probably one of the better narratives of the birth of Christ, and it starts very simply with a guy named Zechariah. and the Holy Spirit is in this part of the story. But I want you to notice some of the things about this story. First, there's been an absolute silence. You've got to wrap your mind around the story itself. There's been a silence for about 400 years. God has not spoken through prophets. The Holy Spirit has been pretty much absent. They haven't heard from the Lord for 400 years. I don't know what that would be like, because we hear the Lord speaking to us. We have his word today. We have a lot of things going on for us. But can you imagine that at the end of the Old Testament prophets, Malachi, there's not another word spoken. Nobody comes on and says, thus says the Lord, and I'm a prophet of God, and I'm going to speak to you what the Lord has to say. And it must have been a very strange period of time, that 400 years of silence. But God was preparing the hearts because what He was trying to show us is the fact that He gave us so many prophecies and He wanted us to be prepared. God's never lied. His prophecies have never failed. And there was a time when this began to take place. And I want to draw your attention to chapter 1 and verse 5. It says, a certain priest named Zacharias, so the division of Abijah. So the first thing we notice is there was a particular time. There was in the days of Herod the king. So this is very specific timing. Very, very specific timing. And if you were to really quickly, I just want you to see how strategic it is, the time in which Christ was born. If you were to look at Galatians in chapter four, let me get there really quick. Chapter 4, verse 4 through 6, Paul writes this. He says, to redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore you are no longer slaves, but sons. And if sons, then an heir of God through Christ. Now I want you to Put that back in your mind, that last verse, chapter 4, verse 6 of Galatians. The fact that you're an heir, you're a son, you belong to God through the Spirit. You're going to see that play out even more as we get into this. So it's a very specific time. So Zechariah was this priest. He was of the division of Abijah. So at this particular time, there was probably 20,000 different priests that had different functions. And because all of them couldn't minister at the same time, there was divisions, there was lot cast for who would get to do certain tasks in the temple. There were several different functions of the priests within the temple, and they were all waiting for their lot to fall that they might get to go in and serve God. be kind of an interesting concept, wouldn't it? Every now and then you get to go into the temple and you get to serve the Lord, and all of a sudden you get the golden ticket and you get to go in. Let me just say this, that what Zachariah gets to do here, we'll see here in a minute, he was of this thing. His wife was a daughter of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And when they They were both righteous before God and walked in all the commandments and ordinance of the Lord blameless. But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren and they were both well advanced in years. So it was that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priest, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. Let me set this up for you. At this particular time, there's two hours of prayer during. There was one at 930 and one at 330. And the priest would go in. And what would happen, there was three significant priests that would go do certain tasks. The guy who gets to draw to go in and burn incense, that was the most coveted of all. If you were the guy that got that responsibility to go into the holy place and burn incense before the Lord, that was it. that you might even hear the voice of God, and you were to go in and offer the prayers of the people and the nation before God, and you'd burn this incense. And incense, in Psalm 41, 1, 2, talks about, let my prayers be as incense before you. And so incense burning, to this day, they still carry incense burners all over Israel. It's symbolic of the prayers that are going up to God. So the first priest, his responsibility was, he drew this thing. He was to go in and clean the altar and prepare the fire for the altar, to bear the wood and get the fire burning. Then he would leave. And then the other priest, he would come in and he would have the basins of blood and the things. And maybe he was responsible for more of the killing of the animals and bringing the blood in. And that was the sacrifice and the fire. And this was all symbolic to go into the temple that God may forgive sin. And so the priest that would go in and offer prayers, he would go in and burn incense before the Lord. Now this is in the holy place where there's nobody allowed but him. He's all by himself. And it must have been kind of a weird thing. If you've been to Israel and you've seen some of these pictures and types, it's just a room. Everything outside of this Holy of Holies had great vines and great ornate decorations and it was beautiful, but the holy place, there was only a table, there was the Ark of the Covenant, there was some showbread, and there was a candle, and there was this altar to burn incense on. And so he was in there to burn the incense for the people. as he was in there for that period of time, it would last about an hour normally. He would stay in there for about an hour. We have an hour of prayer here, and sometimes we finish early. I can only imagine being by myself in a very precarious place, because in the Holy of Holies, this place where he was to offer this incense, only the pure could go in. And if you were not right before God, oh, there were some priests that were killed. They used to have their robes, and they'd have pomegranate bells on the bottom of the hem of their garment, and they would have a rope tied to their ankle. And the rope would extend out, you see. There was a rope tied to their ankle. Why? Because if they weren't right before God, God would drop them dead on the spot, and they couldn't go in and get them, so they would drag them out with the rope. And so the guy's, you know, he's kind of kicking the bells. I'm still here, you know. The prayers are going well. I'm still alive. Don't pull the rope yet. But it was such an honor to do that. I can't even imagine. Now, Zachariah, he's old. It says he's well advanced in years. His wife was old and she was barren. Now, it's interesting because this story plays out. I don't think at this particular time, Zachariah was in that place offering prayers for his wife to have a baby. I think that had long passed. I'm sure when he was younger, that was a prayer that he prayed often. But now time has passed, and if you know anything about that culture, not to have children, it was considered a curse. It wasn't a blessing at all. It was considered very bad. And so that was something because the Holy Spirit has mentioned it here that they were without children because she was well advanced in years. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Can you imagine? You're in this place. Nobody has ever been in there but you. Nobody's allowed. It's a very sacred and quiet place, and you're doing your duty to burn this incense. I'm not sure what the procedure was, but all of a sudden... There's somebody standing there. And this is this angel. The Lord is standing there and speaks to him. It's quite scary. And when Zechariah saw him, what do you think? He was afraid. He was troubled and fear fell upon him. You know, I think it's interesting. Anytime the real deal shows up. The real angel of the Lord, anytime the Lord speaks, men will go, what's up, old guy? Or what's up, big guy in the sky? You know, they never very flip it with God's agents of communication. They tremble and they fear. They fall down on their faces, dead men. And here's Zechariah, he's trembling, and fear came upon him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, okay? I like that. Let me just stop there. Don't read ahead, don't look down. Don't you like it when God hears prayers? Now, don't look, I see John, don't cheat. You're cheating. So he's in this place, he's well advanced in years, his wife's an old lady, and she's way beyond the childbearing years, and he's in there to offer prayers of the people. He's not really in there to plead for himself, but notice this, notice what the angel of the Lord says to him. And the angel of the Lord said to him, do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. I'm sure that was almost as astounding to him as when the angel showed up. The angel says, hey, I've heard your prayer. He's probably thinking, okay, so you're gonna deliver us from the Romans, that's great. Oh, you're gonna send the Messiah soon, that's great too. No, the angel says, hey, you're gonna have a son. That must have been a real shocker. That must have been something that really caused him to think about, man, you've heard my prayers. Can I just say to you, church, like I said, it's not a past event, it's a present reality. Please make note in your Bible that God hears your prayers. Those prayers that you've prayed for years and years and years, and maybe there hasn't been an answer. Don't ever for a moment think God has forgotten you. The first thing he wanted to reassure Zacharias, I've heard your prayers. God has heard your prayer for a child, and guess what? It's gonna get answered. You're gonna have a child in your old age. His name is gonna be John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. You shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit. Let me just stop right there. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's first mentioned in the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. It's when John the Baptist is going to be filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth. He's going to be this guy that's going to be full of the Holy Spirit. Now, I imagine in Zachariah's mind, in the people's mind, what does that exactly mean? Now they have seen the Spirit of the Lord moving in the Old Testament and some of the prophecies in different ways, but this is a completely different thing. The Holy Spirit being in this person, filling him, this coming upon him. They kind of knew what that meant. Okay, let me make sure my computer stays on again. It keeps turning off. Tried to kill that, but I don't know how to do it. I'm just not good at computers. Okay, there we go. So I'm good. So he's gonna have this son, and his son's gonna be full of the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will also go before him in the spirit and strength of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, and to make ready the people prepared for the Lord. Now this is a great thing for him to say, and I want to draw your attention to just a couple things here. He will come in the spirit and power of Elijah. This has been perplexing to many people. But what did Elijah come to do when he was in first Kings? What did he do with the children of Israel? Do you remember he told them, he said, if God is God, worship him. If Baal is God, then worship him. But to choose this day who you're going to worship. And then he challenged the 400 prophets of Baal and, you know, the cow thing. They had the sacrifice. They cut up, put it on the altar. And, you know, he said, you guys go first. And they danced around the altar trying to get God to come down and consume the sacrifice. And nothing happened. And then Elijah, his turn. And he showed the power of God by pouring water on the sacrifice, and God consumed it. He turned the hearts of people back to God. John the Baptist, the son of Zachariah and Elizabeth, was to do the same thing. So he did come, and you can look at that in Matthew 11, verses 11 through 14, that he came in the spirit and the power of Elijah to cause people to repent. So, Zechariah has done his work in the temple. He's heard that he's gonna have a son. Now, Zechariah, like you, like me, says something here a little, maybe not so good. Let me read it to you. Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife, well, she's advanced in years. So he's kind of questioning God. He's questioning God. I like God's response for the angel that he sent. I mean, he's just probably exclaiming in an angelic voice. Now, I say that because it really ministered to me in my own prayer life. When God speaks things to me, I say, well, how will this be and how can it happen and what's going on? And I don't really understand. But God says, look, I've never failed you. My promises are always good. Why do you doubt me? And so Gabriel was a little upset, I think. He was a little upset. He says, I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God, who was sent to speak to you and bring you glad tidings. Behold, you'll be mute and not able to speak until the day this thing takes place, because you did not believe my word, which will be fulfilled in your own time. The angel was kind. The angel could have smote him, but good. But he just said, you're not going to be able to speak anymore until this thing is accomplished in your own time because of your unbelief. I wonder how many maladies and things I have because of unbelief. I wonder how many Christmases go by and I miss the joy of the season because I doubt that it's a present reality. I look at it more as a past event. I don't really see how it works out in my own life, but there's a definite promise of this story to our own hearts. I want you to keep thinking about that. So you're not gonna be able to speak until this is in your own time. And the people waited for Zachariah and they marveled that he lingered so long in the temple, but when he came out, he could not speak to them. Which is significant, because if you were to look at, in your Bible, if you want to turn there really quick, number 624, actually I think I marked that, but my mark fell out. That's all right, I'll find it. Number 624 is really an interesting thing, because this is what he would have said. As he came out of the temple, he would have said, the Lord bless you and keep you, and the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And that's what the priest would say when he came out of offering the incense. It would be a blessing that he would speak to the people. But here comes Zechariah, he comes out, he's lingered long in there, a lot longer than an hour. And these guys are going, hour of prayer, what's going on? It's now been two hours and he hasn't come out yet. What is he doing in there? I got things to do, places to go, people to see. Why is he taking so long? When he comes out, he's just like, And they're waiting to hear the blessing. Why were they waiting to hear the blessing? Because the sacrifice, if God didn't kill the priest and the incense went up and everything was great, God's blessing to them, what I read to you out of Numbers, was the sacrifice was good, your sins are taken care of for now. The covering has covered your sins of the past. The lamb, the sacrifice was all acceptable to God. And people would rejoice in that. So when he came out and he wasn't able to speak, they're like, What happened? Was the sacrifice good or was it not? And they didn't know. So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, thus the Lord has dealt with me in the days when he looked on me, to take away this reproach among the people. What I find interesting about Elizabeth, she hid herself for five months. Like most women, she didn't want anything to happen, and then people to scorn her. because it was just one of those things. Oh, you're pregnant at your old age? Oh, you'll probably have a miscarriage. Oh, you'll probably lose the baby, whatever. She just didn't want to hear any of that. So she just took herself aside and said, I'm just gonna wait to see what this thing will be. So the Holy Spirit was involved in this whole process of bringing forth the forerunner. The one who would come and proclaim the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of him and to proclaim repentance. I know John the Baptist came and his message was simple, wasn't it? Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Which was interesting, if you think about it. Why is it a present reality? Where do I draw that conclusion from? Well, the sacrifices were Old Testament, and they were kind of past tense thing. And right after this, after the sacrifice was offered, and the incense burned, you felt like, okay, it took, I'm good with God, I'm gonna go home. When John the Baptist came on the scene, he wasn't saying prepare a better lamb, do a better sacrifice, try a little harder. He was saying, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. What do you mean repent and be baptized in remission of sin? What are you talking about, John? Because all I know is sacrificing a lamb. But he was making it more personal. Identify with your sin and turn away from it. Don't just cover it anymore. Don't make it a covering, but make it something that's absolutely taken away. So we move on in verse 26. of the narrative of Luke's Gospel and the birth of Christ. In verse 26, now, in the sixth month, this is the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to the city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Now I just want to stop and just draw your mind to a couple things that are being said right here. There are three things that the angel says to her that are significant to us. You're a highly favored one. The Lord has told us in many places that we are highly favored. In Ephesians 1.6, He made us acceptable in the Beloved. We're very highly favored by God by making us acceptable in the Beloved. And then He says to her, I will be with you. Didn't He tell us, Jesus and Matthew 28.20? He says, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. The promise to Mary is the same promise He's made to us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He's with us. And the last one, He says that you will be blessed. You'll be blessed. I don't know if you've ever read Ephesians 1-3 where it says He's given us every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. God has blessed all of us. You see, this story of the incarnation is a lot of our story today as well. And I just wanted to stop there and draw your attention to that. Verse 29 goes on, it says, But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what matter of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. And he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there will be no end. So the promise of Jesus would come and he would fulfill all these prophecies that were prophesied to her. I'm sure that was just an amazing thing for her. It goes on in verse 34. It says that Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I do not know a man? Now, again, Let me draw your attention to something about God. Can I ask you a question this Christmas? I don't know what you're praying about. I don't know what trouble you may have. I don't know what you're facing, but let me ask you this question. What's too hard for God? I hope you believe that. Because so far, there's two things that were just beyond human intellect, right? Zachariah and Elizabeth are well advanced in years. The Bible makes that very clear. And the angel says, hey, you're gonna have a baby. And he's like, what? No way. Dude, I'm Gabriel, so I'm paraphrasing again. It was something that was impossible for man, but wasn't it possible for God? Now Mary, the same thing. Mary, I read a lot of different things about her. Most scholars believe that Mary was about 15 years old. 15 to 18, just a young girl. And this angel comes and says, hey, got news. You're going to bear the Messiah. You're going to have a child. The child's going to be born and it's going to be great. It's going to be like this, it's going to be like that. And she's like, yeah, but how is that going to happen? Because I've never known a man. And at that particular time, give her a break. I mean, she's a human being. She knows how the thing works. You know, man and woman, birds, bees, flowers, trees, you know, the whole thing. You know, they understand that. But to have a child without a man, that would be something that would be so difficult for her to understand. So Mary said to the angel, how can this be? I do not know a man. And the angel had the answer. And the answer to her said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and overpower you. The power of the highest will overshadow you, therefore also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. This is where it gets really interesting to me and this is what I want to get at. And the angel said to her, the Holy Spirit, there he is again. The Holy Spirit's going to overshadow. He's going to come upon you, and He's going to make this happen. Now, a lot of people have just a weird imagination of what that must have been, but simply it's the overshadowing of this Shekinah glory. that we've seen throughout the Old Testament. It's a presence of God seen in a cloud and overshadowing. Now, again, it's nothing for God who created the whole system to make this happen without any kind of sexual thing going on. He just plants the seed in there of the Son of God. And that's why he's going to be called that very thing, the Son of God, because he's going to be born of a woman. That's the prophecy would tell us from Genesis 315. He'd just be from the seed of woman and the Holy Spirit will overshadow you and come upon you. The Holy One will be called the Son of God. You ever thought about that? He's going to be called the Son of God. Why? Because he didn't have an earthly father. See, if Jesus has an earthly father, then he has the sin nature. Because from the seed of man comes sin, but he didn't have that, so he could be sinless for us. Now, I don't know. Have I ever been called the Son of God? Is that something that's characteristic of you and me? If you know your Bible, you would say, well, yes, it is. I am called the Son of God. I am called the Child of God in many different places. So let's look at some of those places that I wanted you to see. Get my page to move. In the book of Galatians, the first place I would draw your attention to is in chapter three, Galatians chapter three and verse 26. It was kind of fun going through my Bible and all these passages that are somewhat familiar to me in different studies and then come back and make sense to me through another passage of Scripture. Verse 26 says, of chapter 3, the book of Galatians, for you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Anybody who's put their faith and trust in Jesus is called a son of God. You're all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither slave or free. There is neither male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Isn't Jesus one of the heirs of Abraham? Y'all want to stand up and sing, Father, I Abraham have many sons. I am one of them. So are you. So let's just praise the Lord. No. OK. I didn't think you wanted to do that. But just so you know that you're the sons of God, turn with me to Romans in chapter eight, one of my favorite chapters next to chapter 12. I love Romans chapter eight because it tells us in that chapter again that we are the children of God. Starting in verse 12, Romans Chapter 8, verse 12. I'm very excited about this stuff. It says, therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you do not receive a spirit of bondage again to fear, but you receive the spirit of adoption Now that is one powerful set of scriptures. Notice how he talks about being born in the Spirit. When he goes through this whole thing for us, he's telling us that it's the spiritual birth that's important to us. so that we are the sons of God. If we're born of the Spirit, we're born the sons of God. So it's the same as, and I want you to see how that applies to us today. So if you're a Wednesday nighter and you've been coming Wednesday night, you know that we've been studying through my good friend and guy that I relate to well, Peter. First and second, Peter. And I was going through this in my mind and I was thinking about 1st Peter and chapter 1 if you want to turn there we're going to look at that briefly how important this is to understand how present this reality of Christ being born in us and who we are is to Christianity so if you would turn to 1st Peter I'm doing a lot of reading today I don't really like doing that but it just warrants it through this particular section of scripture so if you're we're going to be looking at 1st Peter Chapter 1 verse 10 to start all the way to 210. So I know that the chapter division doesn't really matter So let me give you an example. It says for this salvation the prophets have inquired in search Careful who prophesied of the grace that would come to you searching what or what matter of time the Spirit of Christ? Who is in them was indicated when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would be followed To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us. They were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which the angels desire to look into. So what Peter is saying here is all the Old Testament prophets, they were looking into this time when the heart of stone would be removed. The heart of stone was this religious going through the motion, going to sacrifice, going to temple, doing all this stuff, but not having a relationship with God. They were wondering when it would be that God would send the Messiah, remove the heart of stone and put a heart of flesh in, that man could be restored back to the relationship that we had with God in the Garden of Eden. I don't know how much you process what we lost in that garden that day that they sinned. When they sinned and they were moved out of the Garden of Eden, they lost fellowship with God. They lost that one-to-one contact. You know, they walked throughout the day with God. They communed with Him. There was a true friendship in the Garden of Eden with God. They could freely eat of anything He made, and God would walk with them. I'm not sure what that looked like, but one day I'm going to know when I get to heaven because I'm going to see Him face to face. But in the interim, The prophecies were that Christ would come, take the heart of stone, give us the heart of flesh, and that we would have this relationship with God once again, as a child does with a father. It would be intimate, it would be close, it would be something. So all the prophets were looking into when will this be and what will happen? And it wasn't, they were prophesying not for themselves, but to us, because the gospel's now been preached to us. I just read to you that we are the sons of God, amen? You with me still? I know this is kind of difficult. It was difficult for me, but I got it. And it says it was through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, the things that angels desire to look into. The Holy Spirit came down, talked to Zachariah. Zachariah, you're going to have a son. He's going to be the forerunner. Your son's going to be called John. Interesting, if you read a little bit further in that narrative, when Elizabeth was giving birth to John, he couldn't speak. They were going to call his name Zachariah. Let's name him after his father. Let's call him Zachariah. Oh, everybody would like that. Everybody says, yeah, Zachariah's the name. Give me a piece of paper. And they say, well, OK, Zachary, what shall his name be? J-O-H-N. Okay, John, it is. And he was able to speak, by the way, as soon as he wrote that down. And so he would be this forerunner. And then the Holy Spirit came again upon Mary and overshadowed and Messiah was born. And this is what they're talking about. This is what Peter knows. Therefore, therefore, the Messiah has come to us. Peter goes on in verse 13 and says, Therefore, gird up your loins of your mind. That's kind of a weird rendering, but again, can I say, roll up the sleeves and get serious about what you believe is what he's talking about. Girding up your loins, they didn't have sleeves to roll up, they had these long robes that they girded up so they could run, so they could do something. In other words, get ready to do something with what you have. Be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Take a deep breath, Troy. Try to fathom what Peter is saying. I don't know. It took me some time to sit before it and think about what he's saying. It's just get prepared for what God has for you. I'm not sure if you track much with me on the fact that, do you know where Jesus lives today? Right here. Right here. The Holy Spirit is only going to reveal to you and me, you can read it in John chapter 16, the things that God has already said and the things that Jesus has already done. And he pours those things into us. So I am the living manifestation of what Jesus is to the world around me. Now, It's vitally important for us to grasp this concept, because that's what Peter's trying to get at, that therefore is what he just said about the prophet speaking the prophetic word to us. Now, we've all had that revelation. If we're born again, we've had that revelation. But turn with me if you would. Do I have time to do this? I do. I mean, it just took me a long time to go through all this for myself because I just kept going and going and thinking through it. I take you back to John chapter 3. You don't have to turn there. Let me just kind of brief it for you. There was a man named Nicodemus and he was a rule of the Jews. The man came to Jesus by night and said, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher. come from God, for no one could do the signs that you do unless God was with him. And Jesus immediately answers, and most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time in his mother's womb? Again, not understanding the things of God. And Jesus said, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. For that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of water Which is born of spirit is spirit do not marvel that I say to you must be born again the wind blows Where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going So is everyone who's born of the Spirit Nicodemus answered and said all right. Can I get saved? No, he you know like the others. He said how can this be? How can this possibly be Jesus could have retorted? It's in your Bible, dude. I All the prophecies are there telling you that this was going to happen. You're a teacher of the Jews and you don't know this. Jesus answered and said, Are you a teacher of Israel and you don't know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you. We speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive our witness. If I had told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but he who has come down from heaven, that is the son of man. who is. Now that's a whole mouthful, but that gives you the rundown of what it means to be born again. We have to be born again, born anew, born of the Spirit, born into Christ. So that's the present reality, because I don't know about you, but if I raise my hand and say I'm born again, I'm saying Christmas is the present reality right here. Christmas is me. I'm the story. Because Messiah came, he was born, he lived, and he died. He took away my sin, he took away my heart of stone, he gave me a heart of flesh, and he put himself right here. So what does that tell me about Christmas? It tells me that I need to tell somebody about the Jesus in me. I need to share the message of this story. And that's what Peter's gonna go on, so stay with me in Peter. You rest your hope, let me see, the revelation of Jesus Christ, verse 14. Now why would Peter say that? Well, because we've been born again into a holy family. I'm born into the family that I've been adopted by. Remember Romans 8, 15, I haven't received a bondage again to fear, but an adoption where I cry, daddy, daddy? Who's my daddy? I can say like, who's your daddy? God, and if you're born into this family and you're a joint heir to this family, guess what your family is? Your family's holy. So in my conduct, he says, get rid of the old lust and the old flesh and be holy for I am holy. And I love that because Peter was a guy like me who would look in the mirror and say, oh, that ain't holy. That guy in the mirror is the furthest thing from holy. But he knew he couldn't in and of himself be holy. But the Holy Spirit in him allowed him to be holy. And he desired it with all of his heart. Verse 17 it says, and if you call on the Father without partiality judges according to each one's works, conduct yourself through this time of your stay here in fear, knowing that you are not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold from the aimless conduct received by the traditions from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was the foreordained before the foundations of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." Let me stop right there. Do you see what he's saying? There's such a powerful piece of scripture. Know that you were not redeemed with, you weren't bought with stuff like gold and silver. He calls it corrupt. He calls it decay. And most of us live and breathe and die for gold and silver. Christmas is about gold and silver and presents and treasures. What is it? Those things are corruptible. Those things, you know, I don't know about you, but I got lots of grandkids. And I like to get them things that are meaningful to them. But sometimes we just buy them so much junk. You know, I've watched over the years, and we spoil, can I just say, all my grandkids are very spoiled. They're very spoiled. And sometimes they'll come and they'll get a present, they'll rub it and go, yeah, look what I got! What was it? I don't care. Give me another one. And they tear it open. And they throw it over. And they get another one. And they just keep wrapping. They don't even know what it is. And it's like, don't think the kids are bad. You guys are just as bad. What did you get last year? I don't know. I can't remember. A jacket. Somebody got a jacket. Still wearing a jacket. Good. I still don't remember. I do remember one year I got a spoon. I still have it. It's from my mom. I got a spoon. I still have it. It's one memorable gift that I have. But I forget so easily these gifts. But the gift of God is not corruptible. And notice he says, it's not like the traditions from your father. It's not like the law. It's not like the old way of things. It's a new thing. It's a better thing. It's not. It's the precious blood of Christ, the lamb without blames, without spot. That is what has redeemed you. And that is why you're a child of God, because of the price He paid for you. He indeed was foreordained before the foundations of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through him believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and your hope is in God. Please underline that and remember that. This Christmas, your faith and hope is in God and God alone. Let me read on. One of the greatest things that we can do at Christmastime is do just what Peter said. Because we've been born of the Spirit in sincere love, Love the brethren, love the body of Christ, love each other. How do we love one another? With fervent love. How do we manifest Christ to the world? One of the ways we do that is loving each other. And I pray that not just for House of Grace, I pray that for the entire Bride of Christ that's throughout this country. We need to really be on our knees praying for the church. praying that we wouldn't be divided, that we wouldn't split hairs over silly things, but because we were purchased with the blood of God, that we would simply love one another. Now one of the simplest things about Christianity is to love one another, but yet it becomes sometimes some of the most difficult things. And he goes on and says, all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of men is as the flowers of the grass. The grass withers and the flowers fade away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which the gospel was preached to you. I'll read this last section to you. Chapter two goes on, it has that therefore, so we can't stop at chapter, Two, we have to keep going on. as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is contained in the scriptures. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect precious, and he who believes in him will by no means be put to shame. We are to offer up the praises of Him. We are, I love this, living stones, spiritual house, a priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. Do you know what a spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God is? Simply worshiping Him. It's not a lamb. It's just what you were doing by singing earlier, just by magnifying the Lord. That singing doesn't have to stop here on Sunday morning. You've got all kinds of radio stations that are playing Christmas music. Sing them often, sing them loud. Let the people know that Jesus Christ is born. Verse seven says, Now this is what I want to leave you with. This is the this is the present reality of who you are. He says, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. See, what I'm trying to show you today is the Holy Spirit was so involved in the birth of Christ to bring about this salvation that we enjoy. But it wasn't just something that we look into from a distance. We look at an event that happened in the past, but it's a present reality because the Holy Spirit is right here today saying, you are the sons of God. You are the vessels of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the praises of Him and to be that light and salt to the earth. So this Christmas, it's more than lights on a tree and lights on your house. Is there a light in your heart? Is there a glow about us? I mean, have we really gotten to this place? And this is why it was so important for me to do this. For me, maybe the only one, I need to be the light of the world. I need to go about my day rejoicing in the Lord. Sometimes Christmas gets people down. And I can be the biggest bah humbug there is sometimes. Oh, commercialism. Money. You know, going here, going there. Like I said, we get so busy in Christmas, we forget who we are. We forget that there's power in us. We forget there's a light in us. There's a hope in us. There's a message right here. This is the joy of the world. The whole world rejoices when they understand that what's happened to me is I've been saved from my sin. I'm a notorious sinner. I have done horrible things, and the blood of my Savior has cleansed me from all of it. And in place of my filthy sin, he's put a holy presence, his self, being born again in me. Is he being born again in you? And so what I wanted to share with you is just that. That Jesus that my little granddaughter was carrying around said, I never want to put him down. I want him to go with me wherever I go. That's what you have this Christmas. That's what you carry about within yourself. You don't have to carry the plastic Jesus around like in her little mind. You have him. Just get to know him. Would you stand with me? We'll close in prayer. Thank you for being so gracious and let me read to you. I get excited when I read and it's kind of scary for me to do, but I hope you got it. Hope you got what I was trying to say. So let's pray. Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit would move on your word today. I hope that, God, I could communicate what you were communicating to my heart, how important it is to have my Jesus always shining forth out of me. That that birth of Christ was not something that just happened 2,000 years ago, but it's happening in me every day of my life. And it happens in each one of us, Lord, as you've called us to be the sons of God. And so Lord, I pray this Christmas that you fill each one of us with the ability to pray for the body of Christ, first and foremost, that we'd all be that light to the world in this awful darkness and the sin that we see so prevalent in our world would be blown out by the light. The light would dispel the darkness, God, and it will come from our prayers and from our living holy as you are holy. and sharing and living and compassion and love for each other. And so Father, I pray that you'd pour your spirit out on us in that respect. And Father, I know there's a whole lot of healing that needs to take place in families and in these get togethers that either we're dreading or we're not looking forward to, or maybe we are. But wherever we go, whatever we do, Lord, I just pray that that born again Jesus would be in our heart. That baby Jesus would not just be something lying in a manger, but it'd be the very treasure of the heart of hearts of each one of us. And so God, lead us that way this Christmas, we pray. And Lord, may you be exalted. May you be glorified. May the world know that you live, you live even today in each one of us and that you're coming again. That you're a God who fulfills his promises and there's nothing too hard for you. There's no family member, there's no obstacle that they're facing that you can't answer. So God, let us give hope. Let us give that hope that there's nothing too hard for you, that there's nothing impossible for you. Lord, just let us bless the world with the Christ this Christmas season. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.