Amen. What a mission. Amen. We need to realize God's on a mission. Amen. And the mission we're on is God's mission. Amen. And I want to preach tonight on a subject that might sound a little different at first. I want to preach on God's Christmas mission, the unstoppable mission of God. Amen. God's mission is the mission that all of us should be interested in and praise God for it. We're going to be in the book of John chapter number one. reading the greatest Christmas story in the Bible. Thank God for the mission that God set out. And when we look at the mission of God and we realize as we apply it to the scripture, amen, throughout the Bible, it's all through the word of God. And sometimes we feel like our mission is obstructed by a lot of things, and it certainly is. But God's mission was obstructed also. But God never let it stop him. His mission never has failed and it never will fail. Amen. And we thank God for it. We give God the glory and praise Him for it. I want to say a few things about some other places in the Bible before we read tonight. We read in the book of Matthew about the conception of Jesus. What a beautiful story and what has unfolded to us there. We read in the Word of God how that even in His birth sometime afterward the wise men came and we're excited about that and His trip into Egypt and all that was fulfilled in prophecy. And then we come to the book of Luke and we read again of the birth of the Lord Jesus. And we read about the things that unfolded there and how they despised him. The time of taxing was there. And of course, Herod wanted him killed. Amen. And many died that that might accomplish, but they didn't, they didn't, it was not able to kill the Lord. And we see all this unfolded in those verses in the book of Matthew and the book of Luke about the birth of the Savior. But we come to this beloved John. And we look at what John is writing about our Savior, amen. And it's much like all of John's writing. There's no gospel like the gospel of John. When you come to the gospel of John, and look at chapter 3, at the new birth of Nicodemus, and you come to chapter 5, and you look at we who have eternal life, amen, and how it's unfolded to us. You come to chapter 6 and see that all that's coming to me, I know why it's casting me out. You come to number eight and find that the truth sets us free, amen. And you come to chapter 10 and find him the shepherd and we're the sheep. And he gives unto us eternal life and we shall never perish. He puts us in the father's hands with his hand, amen. What a writing. We see chapter 11 and he that believeth in me shall never die. Believe us now this. There's no writer like the book of the writer of John. I know the Holy ghost pinned down every verse, but it certainly uses the personalities of the individuals in the writing. Amen. As he did in the apostle Paul's writing, we see, we see Paul's heart and his burden throughout the writing. He brings it to chapter 17, skipping over a few and Jesus praying that we'd be one with him and the fathers. They are one. What a majestic chapter as he prays in that chapter, amen. But he brings us to the last two chapters of the book of John. We'll not mention a lot, but we want to mention this. If everything was written that he had done, the world couldn't contain the volumes, amen. And so if we're going to look at a majestic writing about our Lord coming into this world, where could we better find than John's writing in John chapter number one? We seldom hear it read from in the Christmas season. Most of the time we're seeing something and there's nothing wrong with that from Matthew or Luke. And that's perfectly all right. Amen. Because it is the Word of God just as much as the book of John. Every scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's prompt for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. Instruction and writing to man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished into all good works. So God has given us a Bible, but he certainly wants us to glean from all of his pages because Jesus said, man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And so John writing about the Lord Jesus, introducing us to him, introduces us differently than any other writer in the new Testament. He begins in chapter number one and verse number one in the beginning. he goes all the way back to genesis chapter one verse number one in the beginning uh... john begins with the beginning uh... if we only had the book of matthew we wouldn't know all about the deity of our creator savior but in this text we know more about him amen if we only had luke uh... we would be limited about who jesus really is in eternity past But John takes us back further than Bethlehem. He takes us back further than Nazareth. Amen. He takes us back far beyond all that. He goes back to the beginning and he begins talking about Jesus in the beginning. He says, 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. And so he begins to open up to us that not only was he there, but he was God. NO OTHER WRITER MAKES IT THAT CLEAR AND THEN HE SAYS IN VERSE NUMBER THREE HE BRINGS TO THE FOREFRONT IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH LIKE GENESIS CHAPTER NUMBER ONE AND HE SAYS ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM AND WITHOUT HIM WAS NOT ANYTHING MADE THAT WAS MADE AREN'T WE GLAD WHEN WE FACE THE CULTS OF OUR DAY THAT WE HAVE THE BOOK OF JOHN CHAPTER NUMBER ONE IN HIM WAS LIFE AND THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN The Bible is clear as John writes 1st John 2nd John 3rd John and we found that he that hath the Son hath life He that hath not the Son of God hath not life without Jesus. There is no life. He is life And he is the light of men he began In light he said let there be light and there was light that was Jesus. I There was no sun or moon or stars when he said that there'd be light and there was light. It was Jesus that was the light. And the Bible tells us in the book of Revelation in that holy city he'll be the light. So he's beginning the light and he'll ending the light and light will always be because the mission of God is to bring men light. You see, God had a mission and the mission stood before the foundation of the world. And the Bible says Jesus Christ, our Lord, was as a lamb slain. He was as a lamb slain before or in the beginning when the foundation was in conception. When you look up that word, it means the conception. When God was conceiving, when the mind of the triune God was conceiving the creation, They were discussing Jesus coming to the cross. When the mind of God was conceiving this earth being made, the world being formed, there was a discussion in the Godhead about Jesus being born in a virgin's womb. All that was before, and if we only have a Bethlehem scene as we have in the world we have today, we've missed a great deal of what the Bible is saying. in him was life and the light was the light of men you say what is the mission of God that God would have a people and he would be their God and they would be his people and that has never changed and God's mission has never changed and it's still the same today it is not God's will that any should perish but all should come to repentance there's no room for Calvinism in the Bible I hold There's no room for leaving men out of God's plan in the Bible. I hold, there's no room for leaving men out of what Jesus did in the Bible. I hold, he came into the world and he came for a purpose. And he says this, his purpose was to seek and save that which was lost. The Bible says. The light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not there's always been a struggle between light and darkness But thank God light has always overwhelmed the darkness You can never bring it dark enough to put these lights out But you can never make it dark enough that these lights can't shine through it, amen Light overwhelms darkness, and it always has. If it had not, you and I would be on our way to hell or already there, or you and I would not be in this building tonight, but because light has overcome darkness, we're here tonight. That doesn't mean the struggle doesn't go on in our breasts tonight with darkness, but thank God, light prevails over darkness, amen. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man was prophesied of in the Old Testament. Malachi tells about him. It is also told us that Jesus would be foretold. Amen. And this is the foreteller of Jesus. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light. Which light of every man that cometh into the world. there's no such... I reject foolishness. I just don't have any part for it. Amen. to say that men are as animals and to say that they have a inability to know about God. That's not in the scripture, amen. That's something someone put together. The Bible said, He lighteth every man that cometh into the world, amen. There's a place in the bosom of every human being that God has worked on, amen. He lighteth every man that cometh into the world WHY? BECAUSE GOD'S PURPOSE IS FOR MEN TO HAVE A GOD AND FOR GOD TO HAVE A PEOPLE AND THAT PEOPLE IS TO BE HIS! AMEN! AND FROM THE BEGINNING! AMEN! THAT WAS HIS PURPOSE! The Bible says He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. What an amazing statement that the Creator has flashed the stars and all the planets and all the things to the sky that we see lit at night and we see the nature of God that He has created in all the beings of the earth, amen, and everything that God's unfolded to us, whether it be a flower blooming in the spring or whether it be a group of ducks forming a V and flying through the sky, amen. or whether it be a hummingbird lighting on a bloom to receive the nourishment, God in his majesty unfolds to mankind who he is. What a God. What a God. And all this, the Bible says, is to show his glory, to show to us, to show to mankind there is a God, amen. And he wants to be their God. And he wants them to be his people. What a majestic story. He came into His own. His own received Him not. Not just was He in the world, but He was among His people as far as Israel and the Jew and the tribe of Judah. He was among His own nation and His own heritage in the sense of the people that should have known something about Him. Amen. It was in the Word of God that He would come. Matter of fact, the Bible says there were people waiting on that consolation. They were reading the word of God. They were looking at scripture just like we are today. And they were thinking, it looks like it's time for the Lord to come. It looks like it's time for the Messiah to come. There was those the Holy Ghost had spoke to and said, you're not gonna see death until you see the Lord's Christ, amen. It was not just among the religious that believed that. It was lost people who believed that. The woman at the well said, I know the Messiah cometh. She's a lost woman, her life is ruined in sin, but she said, I know one day the Messiah cometh and he'll tell us all things. Someone had told her, maybe her grandmother, maybe her dad or mom, maybe one of those who knew the truth, amen, and met her on the street knowing the life that she lived and said, one day the Messiah cometh. She did not know maybe to the total degree that her life was in, but she knew one thing. One day the Messiah cometh! And Jesus said, I'm he. One day, one day, one day you and I realize we needed a Messiah. We needed a Christ. We needed the Lord. We needed the Savior. Amen. You might be here tonight. May I say God's mission is still to reach the souls of men and women. If you're in this building tonight without Jesus, His desire is that you'll be saved by the grace of God. It is not God's will that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. He then says, though they did not receive Him, This next wonderful statement, thank God, includes everyone in this building, hallelujah. Whosoever will could come and take the water of life freely. The mission of God is to reach you tonight. The mission of God is to reach those tonight. The mission of God is to reach those we heard about tonight. That is the mission of almighty God. Saturday evening we had a our city has a Christmas parade We had a float in the Christmas parade a little bit horse tonight because we walked two miles along With the parade with our float giving out gospel tracks several hundreds of gospel tracks was given out Wow God has a mission And as many but as many as received him I TO THEM GAVE HE POWER TO BECOME THE SONS OF GOD, EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME." WHAT A MESSAGE IN THAT VERSE! As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God What a blessing tonight that you can sit in this building tonight and say I'm a child of God I'm a child of God. I'm a child of God. I am born in the family of God I preached the message the other night and I preached on Christianity and Christianity is a learning experience, but salvation is a birth experience Birth is an instantaneous situation. When you're born, you're born. You do learn after you get saved, but you're born into the family of God. You do not osmosis into it. You don't absorb into it. You don't just become educated into it. You get born into the family of God. You must be born again. which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. No man put together this plan. No religious system was ordained and put together to make man away. No other concept can be conceived except God would love the world and send his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And then he brings us to this immaculate birth of Jesus in verse number 14. And the word was made flesh. How is this going to be accomplished? The word God incarnate must be made flesh. Why? He knew no sin. He who was sinless, he who knew no sin. That's Jesus, God in the flesh. He became sin, not became a sinner. He become my person in the place of me, amen. He become your person in the place of you. He become every person in the place of them. For he tasted death for every man. God's way was for God himself, amen, to pay for the sins of mankind. And the word was made flesh. God was made flesh. Paul writing makes it clear. God manifests in the flesh. What a mystery, amen. How did he do it? Through the womb of that virgin. Little maiden and placed in her body. Jesus said this in Hebrews, A body hast thou prepared me. Many folks have talked about how the conception and all the things around it. My friend, we don't understand it. There's no way to try to explain it, amen, and put it in words, except Jesus said, a body has thou prepared me, amen. Don't wade off into the mud of the Mormons. Don't wade off in the mud of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Don't wade off in the mud of the cults. Take the word of God. A body hast thou prepared me, and he placed it in the womb of Mary, and he was born out of the virgin's womb, amen. That is the story of God's mission. Hallelujah to his name, what a God. What a Savior, what a Lord. This one who was born of a woman and the fullness of time. God sent for this son born of a woman. Amen. Jesus, the son of God. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. What a astounding statement. And we beheld his glory. The glory of God was manifest in his life from a childhood up through his life. If everything he had done from the time he was born till he was 12 years old, we couldn't carry the book in our arm. If everything he had done from the time he was 12 years old to 18 years old, we couldn't carry the book. Hey, there's going to be things we're going to find out that Jesus done. We're going to be amazed at all that Jesus done. We know he grew in grace before men and God. But we know when he come to that age, to step out on the scene, John the Baptist was ready. And he said, behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world, amen. And Jesus said, I must be baptized. I need to be baptized of you. John was reluctant because he see no worthiness in himself. He said, I must decrease and you must increase. I'm not worthy to loose the latch of your shoe, but it must be that we fulfill all righteousness, John. What a God. So vast. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory. We beheld his glory in the cemetery with Lazarus. We beheld his glory on the road when Bartimaeus cried, Oh, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. We beheld his glory when all the leprous men run down and cried out for his help. Amen. We beheld his glory when he touched the beer as they carried the body of the widow's son. Oh yes, we beheld his glory. We beheld his glory when he took the mountain of the thousands into the desert and set them down in the grass and said, feed them. Hallelujah, hallelujah. That is the story of the mission of God. That is the story much faster than just Bethlehem. Bethlehem was majestic. Bethlehem was wonderful. Bethlehem is above and beyond what human minds can comprehend. But it goes so much further, my friend. Before the conception of the world, it was discussed. And the world was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory, the glory, the glory of who? The glory, amen. The glory, we beheld the glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, amen. What words could have been used to describe Jesus? His power, His wisdom, His majestic life in itself, the creation and all the things that was done. But here's what He said. He said He's full of grace. He's full of grace. We're living in a world, hey, I'm for living right. I'm for living holy. I'm for walking the way God wants you to walk. But I'm going to tell you, every one of us would be in hell today if it wasn't for the grace of Almighty God. He said, I'll tell you what he's full of. He's full of grace. He's full of grace. He's full of grace. The old time men of God said, take a text wherever you want, but run to the cross and run to Jesus as quick as you can. If you're going to preach on hell, make sure before you get done, you've told them about Calvary. Amen. Hallelujah. It's the book, it's the word of God. This is the beloved John writing to us, amen. The Holy Ghost filling him with the words to pin down. We're talking about the mission of God. Talking about God's Christmas mission, amen. It was known in the mind of God exactly what we'd celebrate. And there's a lot of people against celebration. Do what you want. Amen. I celebrate. Praise God. I want to celebrate. God's always celebrated. There's always been celebration. Hey, they celebrated. They celebrated about the Passover and they're still doing it. They celebrate. There's even the Jews formed their own celebration. They formed the celebration of Purim. Amen. And God was for it, even though he didn't tell them to. And God was born. Why not celebrate the birth of the Savior and magnify His name? Someone said, well, we talk about it all year long. We talk about Calvary all year long. We talk about the creation all year long. We talk about a lot of things all year long. But thank God there's a time every now and again to get excited and say, hallelujah, praise the Lord, the Son of God was born. I'm not going to let a bunch of Jehovah's Witnesses rob that from me. Amen! I told someone some day, they said, I don't celebrate Christmas. I said, there's a whole lot of people don't, and I don't want to be identified with that crowd that don't. Amen. Amen. Amen. I'm trying to be nice. He came into His own. They did not receive Him. But as many as did receive Him. To them gave He power to become the sons of God. He made a way for you and me to be saved. He made a way for every man, boy and girl to be saved. Amen. God hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God has never smiled. God has never gave out a cackle because men and women went to hell. Matter of fact, he never even made hell for men. He made it for the devil and his angels. God's got a place far better and God's got a plan and that plan is the mission of God to have a people and God be their God and we be his people, amen. You say, preacher, but God can do whatever he wants. God gave you and me a liberty to make choices. I preached last night, as a matter of fact, on making choices. In the garden, God gave Adam and Eve freedom. God refers to Adam as the son of God. But Adam sinned against God in the garden. I don't know if we can use human words exactly like human beings, but I have to, that's all the words I got. I think it disappointed God. People say, well, God knows everything. There's things I know was gonna happen before they happen, but I was sure disappointed when they happened. I've stood in situations and I knew what was gonna happen. But boy, when it happened, brother, And God came in the cool of the day and cried, Adam! Adam! Where art thou, Adam? He had to hear the words. We hid ourselves. Why'd you hide yourself? We're naked. Who told you you're naked? Have you ate the fruit I told you not to do? God clothed them and covered their nakedness. But God's purpose, God's plan, God's mission never changed at all. God still looked down through eternity present and a future and said, I'm gonna be a God of a people and a people will be my people and I'll be their God. He repeated that through the Old Testament and into the book of Revelations, we're gonna be his people. and he'll be our God. I can't imagine the disappointments that God has faced. When you face a disappointment, look back at God's disappointments. Adam and Eve come from the garden. Children are born. The first son, Cain, kills his own brother because he's jealous and he rejects God's way. And he has an offended spirit at God. But it doesn't change God's plan. God said, I'll give you another son. There's gonna be a seed. There's gonna be a savior. My son will be born. There'll be a way for man. We don't go far from the garden. And the other world is in filthiness and sin and chaos upon the earth. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And Noah moved with fear. He believed God. And he moved with fear. He prepared an ark for the saving of his house. God instructed him. He knew what he was supposed to do. He rode that ark upon the water for over a year. And it landed. Noah's little family come out. God began to bless them upon the earth. And he planted a vineyard. We don't know what Noah knew about alcohol. Did he know or did he not know? We don't know. But we know he got drunk. And there he lay drunk. I believe it's saddened God. But it didn't change God. It didn't change God. It didn't change his mission. It didn't change his mission. It didn't change his story of Christmas and what he planned. He planned it when the world was in conception. And it didn't change God. Man again began to multiply. And it appears that the world began to get wicked again. And it seemed like it was filled with idolatry. And there was a man named Abraham who seemed to believe and truly trusted God. And we know his faith was accounted for righteousness. And numerous things is said about Abraham. And it is said he's the friend of God. God had told him about the land he would show him, the land of promise. But hard times came. Hard times come to a lot of people. And Abraham, as I studied one morning and one night on this subject, oh, I seen God's heart maybe bigger than I could have any other time. And Abraham journeys down into Egypt. And he takes Lot with him. And he tells his wife to say, I'm your sister. And he comes back out with an Egyptian maid. And somehow or another, we don't understand, but he begins to somehow lean off of the promise, though the Bible says he never staggered at it. I've never staggered who Jesus is, but I failed him, son. And I've never staggered about what he's done for me, but I failed him. And there was a son born out of a relationship that God never put his approval upon. But it didn't change God. And it didn't change his promise. He said, well, I promised Abraham I will do. what I've promised I will do. And he said, it will be in your son, your only son, Isaac. Because God said there's gonna be a seed, there's gonna be a lineage, and my son's gonna be born through that lineage, and the whole earth will be blessed in that lineage. And even though man failed and God watched the failures of man again and again and again, it never changed God. Our Christmas story is much bigger than just a little cradle. The cradle is wonderful, and the manger is wonderful, and everything is told is wonderful, but to leave out such majestic truth is leaving some men in darkness. Abraham has Isaac, and Isaac marries his oldest son. Seems to have no interest in this lineage. Seems to have no interest in this blessing that God has promised Abraham and Isaac. And Esau becomes a fornicator and has no interest in following God and sells his birthright. But God said, I'm not changed. Same mission is still the same. I'll use Jacob. even though his mother give him bad advice and give him bad counsel and Jacob lied to his dad. And no doubt God looked at it and said, don't they know I can make it all work? I don't need lies. They don't need to lie to get it to work for me. But he never throwed in the towel and said, I quit. They never changed God. His mission is still the same. He said, I'll have a lineage and my son will be born through that lineage, amen. There'll be a Christmas morning. There'll be a Messiah. There'll be a Christ. There'll be a savior of the world. I'm sad to say I've let disappointments bother me too many times. I'm sad to say I've let disappointments bother me too deeply too many times. But I serve a God that cannot be distracted. I serve a God that cannot be changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And what he promises, his promises are never nay. Jacob wanders down into Laban, his uncle's place. But on the way, even though he's a liar, he lays his head on a rock pillar and knows there's a God in heaven. And the Bible speaks of Jacob's faith. What an amazing statement. And God lets him see a ladder let down from heaven. Brother, that's bigger than a train load, amen? And he sees the angels ascending and descending. And he says, oh, that's the God. I need to bless me, amen. Jacob makes his way down. We know the stories. He ends up with the wrong woman. Isn't that terrible? Matter of fact, he ends up with several wrong women. Twelve boys are born, one girl. She goes off into the city and gets into fornication. And then God says, I wish you hadn't have done that. One of Jacob's sons commits incest. God said, I wish you hadn't have done that. And then God chooses Judah to have that scepter of kingly position. And Judah commits incest with his daughter-in-law. And God says, I wish that hadn't happened. But God never changed. He said, I'll keep my promise. What I promise I will do. There'll be a lineage. It'll be in the tribe of Judah. My son will be born. There'll be a Christmas morning. There'll be a Messiah. There'll be a Christ. There'll be a Savior. No one would have written the story like God wrote it. He wrote the truth. We would have left out the things that God wrote in his book. But thank God for the mission of God. The mission of God. You might get discouraged in this service. You might get discouraged in your walk with God. You might get discouraged, but look back, my friend. God has never been a quitter. Amen. Hope you're patient tonight. I'm trying to be fast. We know that they ended up in Egypt because the brothers sold their brother, Joseph. What a terrible deed, but it didn't change God. Joseph said, you meant it for bad, but God meant it for good. How many times in our life we thought it's bad, but God meant it for good? God had a greater purpose. And in Egypt, they thrived, they multiplied to a mighty nation of millions. Questionable, two and a half, three, three and a half, four million. You can certainly count a million and a half without counting how many children might have been there. But Pharaoh sees them as an endangered to his power. So he decides to kill all the baby boys. But Amram and Jochebed see something in Moses. How do you see something in a child when it's born that you didn't see in another child? It's God. God said, I've got a purpose. I've got a plan that one day me and old railroad boy needs to be saved. There'll be an old boy in West Virginia that needs to be saved. There'll be an old West Virginia boy go to Florida needs to get saved. God's mission has never changed. And because we're in 2024 fixing to go into 2025 and whether or not, amen, Trump lives to be the president or not, it don't change God at all. He's never sat on the throne and wrung his hands and wondered, how can I get this to work? How can I make this happen? Moses is selected. We know the story, I wish I could go faster. They put him in the little ark made of the reeds they put together. No doubt they sealed it and pitched it. My sister, Miriam, went out to watch what would become of him, and the princess of Pharaoh's kingdom sees him, brings him in. The real mother gets to nursing. We don't know all she's told him, but I believe she's told him enough. And when he come to years, that means he come to maturity. Like you young men, we don't know exactly his age, but I tell you one day when he left there, he's 40. Moses thought it was time to get started. He already knew he was a deliverer. But he had a problem. He had a temper. Like some of us. And he saw an Egyptian mistreating a Jew and he killed him with his own fist. It cost him 40 years. 40 years. God said, I wish you hadn't have done that, Moses. You're my chosen deliverer, Moses. Now you've got to stay 40 years on the backside of the desert. But God said, it hadn't changed me, Moses. I haven't changed my purpose, my plan, my mission is the same. Amen. 40 years later, Moses is 80. He sees the burning bush and God meets with Moses. We know all the struggle went on about his speech and the other things that took place. He comes back, delivers the children of Israel and takes them into the They crossed the Red Sea, the miraculous things they saw. God fed them with manna. Rock flowed from the rock. They come to Kadesh Barnea. And they said, no. And God said, go across. I gave you the land. And Caleb and Joshua said, we're more than able. God can give us the land. They would not. Cost him 40 more years. But God didn't change his plan. He said, I got a plan. I'm going to bring forth my son to the nation of Israel. You see, Joseph had the dreams that God gave him. Hadn't he, brother Larry? He knew what was going to happen. Enoch preached about it, and we don't even know all Enoch knew. And he was the seventh from Adam. He knew that one day Jesus would come in the power of His glory and set up His judgment, ten thousands of His saints, because God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Because He is merciful, full of grace. That's why we're not consumed. We're not sitting in this building tonight because we've all got our I's dotted and our T's crossed perfect. I tell you why we're here tonight is because the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was spilled on an old rugged cross in the plan of Almighty God. That His Son would taste the death of every man. God gives Moses the law. He breaks them. He throws them down. God has put Aaron as the high priest. The high priest of God. And Aaron makes a golden calf. Are you listening to me tonight? Are you listening to what God has gone through to get you and me where we're at today? He is the high priest of God. The high priest of Almighty God. And he makes a molding calf, Brother Doug, and lies about it. But God didn't change. He said, my mission is the same. My mission is the same. I'll bring forth a nation, and from that nation I'll bring forth my Son, and my Son will be the Savior of the world. I hear men say today, if we had a man like so and so, if we had a man, and they go back and pick out some old character in the past, I tell you, we're not going to make it on our own. It's God and it's him alone. And without Christ Jesus, we're nothing. Amen. As I began to study a few weeks ago and think about some of these thoughts, I said, no wonder you said, Lord, without you, we can do nothing. Amen. There was judgments that had to take place. Aaron's first two sons died because of this strange fire. I'm sure God said, I wish they hadn't have done that. But my mission is the same. My mission is the same. My mission is the same. Moses then gets angry again. That rock was Christ. That rock was his son in a picture or a type. The Bible said that rock that followed him was Jesus. He told him the first time, smite the rock. It was a picture of his son showing, my son is coming. There'll be a Christmas born. He will be born. He will go to the cross. There will be a way for a man to be saved. The second time, he said, speak to the rock, not to smite the rock. But Moses got angry, not at God, but at the people. And he smoked the rock. And he said, must I fetch water from this rock? God gave me a message the other day on words, how important it's just a few words. He said, Moses, Moses, Moses. You were to lead the children of Israel into the promised land, Moses. But you're not going. And I'm gonna take you up on a mountain, you're gonna die on the mountain. Moses asked him at least three times to remove that judgment and he said no. But he said, I got another man. My plan's the same. Joshua. Are you listening to me tonight? I'm trying to hurry. I may not get done, but I'm trying to hurry. I'm talking about the mission of Almighty God. I'm talking about the mission of our Father. I'm talking about the mission that brought Jesus into this world, my friend, while we celebrate the birth of Jesus. I'm talking, it's far bigger than just a place in Bethlehem. God's focus started in the conception of the world being made. Joshua becomes the leader, leads the children of Israel in. They're shortly in, and he makes a league with the Gibeonites. I said, I don't want you to do that. You didn't ask me. I told you not to. It's going to cause you trouble. It'll cause you trouble from now on. But it didn't change God. They went into Jericho and Achan did what he did. It didn't change God. Joshua saw the people of God as they were luke minded in every way. And he said, what are you going to do? He's facing the end of his life. He said, you can go back and serve the God of the Amorites and Jebusites and all the others or those on the other side of Egypt. But as for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. Joshua passes off the scene and there comes an attitude that every man did that what was right in his own eyes that's the book of Judges and God raised up judge after judge after judge because they would go into such a liberal minded attitude that God had to send judgment God raised up the great man Samson and endued him with power beyond human understanding And he watched Samson go in the vineyard that day. He wasn't supposed to be in the vineyard. He watched him touch the dead carcass. He wasn't supposed to touch the dead carcass. He watched him go back to the dead carcass. He wasn't supposed to go back to the dead carcass. He watched him take the honey out of the carcass. He watched him make a poem out of it, a riddle, and laugh about it. He no doubt said, Samson, Samson, what are you doing, Samson? He ends up in the lap of Delilah and his hair is cut, his eyes is put out, but it didn't change God. He stands in that Philistine palace and says to the boy, put my hands on the pillars. God gave him back his strength and he pulled the place down. More victory in his death than in his life because God said, I've never changed. I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. If you're sitting in this building tonight, my friend, God's after you. God wants to save you. God wants to save you. You say, I'm going to be tough. You ain't as tough as God. You may be sitting here tonight, you're discouraged, and you say, priest, you know what else happened to me? I don't, but I tell you one thing, there's a God in heaven that knows. And he said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me. There's so many others. Let me hurry. There had to be something done. The priesthood had become a sham. Eli and his family is full of wickedness. His sons are fornicating outside the temple door. They're taking the sacrifices right out of the hands of the people and demanding what they want. God had a little woman who was in a bad marriage. Not a good marriage, a bad one. A bad marriage. Maybe you're in a bad marriage and you say, well, God can do with this. I tell you what He can do with it. He can do anything He wants to do because He's God. And she bows and says, Lord, if you'll give me a son, I'll give him back to you. She's under ridicule and scorn from the other wife in the family. I don't have time to go into all of it, but God gives her a son. Eli thinks she's a drunk. And Samuel was born. And I know there's much said about Samuel, many books written about Samuel, but it appears he's prophet, priest, and king. I mean, it appears he's everything. They fear Samuel. Samuel pulls back the kingdom together. Samuel begins to offer the sacrifices. God seems to be pleased with that. But I don't know what happens to Samuel, but somehow he lost his boys. I don't know how he done it. Do you? I don't know how he done it. And the people rejected his sons. And the people said, we want a king. Samuel's brokenhearted. He goes down to Samuel. God says, Samuel, they've not rejected you, Samuel. They've rejected me. But I've not changed my mind. He said, Samuel, don't be so upset. They've not rejected you, Samuel. They've rejected me. My friend, God's mission has never changed. His heart's desire is to save your soul. And Saul was selected as king, a humble man, head and shoulders taller than anybody in the kingdom. And we don't know money and power affects people. It affects me. It affects you too. It affected him. And God said, Saul, when you was little in your own sight, I made you king. Now he exalted himself and he quit obeying God. God's heart was broke again, but it didn't change God's son. He said, I'll get another man. I'll get another man, a man after my own heart. I'll find somebody that loves me. And he found David, a shepherd boy. And here's what he said, I have a man that's after my own heart. We know a lot of things transpired. I don't have time to preach on all of them, but as they begin to transpire and David killed Goliath, and there was selfishness and jealousy among Saul's heart because of what he's successed in being. It took a period of time, but David come to the throne. and brought the kingdom of Israel to a place it'd never been before. One day David stayed home. God's man, God's man. He stands on the balcony of his roof and looks over and looks at his neighbor's wife. Uriah the Hittite, one of his mighty men, You see, David was the direct lineage of Jesus. Matter of fact, they called Jesus the son of David in the New Testament. Jesus, thou son of David! No doubt God said, David, David, David, the master of my, oh Lord, what are you doing, David? But God didn't throw in the towel and quit. He looked down the road and saw me and you. He looked at the day you'd turn to him through repentance and faith. He looked at the day you'd sit in this building tonight and hear the gospel. That is God's mission, that Christmas story of God. We know judgment came. The baby dies. Solomon is born. God gives him wisdom and power. riches beyond to where gold was like to him the value of brass. Kingdoms brought money to him. The queen of Sheba come and said the half has not been told. I've never seen anything like this. But he begins to marry strange women. God had said in Psalms 89, no matter what he done, I'll not fail my promise. I'll chastise him, but I'll not fail my promise. That's the same promise he made every one of us. Solomon's life ends. His son is born with such a bitter spirit that he has no love or respect for Israel at all. The likeness of my dad will be now like a serpent. And he divides the kingdom. And the 10 northern tribes become idolaters. But God said, my plan has never changed. My son will be born. I'll bring forth my son, born of a woman. He'll be called Wonderful, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. The government shall be upon his shoulder. I don't have time to go through the prophets. I wish I did. Because God led me through those prophets. God said, look, look, look. He brings us to Malachi. He brings us through the captivity and all the things that happened, the rebuilding of the temple. When they rebuilt the temple, they come up to rebuild the temple. Listen, they were under captivity and God had touched the king's heart of Babylon and they had permission, not only permission, but money and finance supplied by the government. They built the foundation and quit and started building their own houses. God had worked such a miracle. They started building God's house back and they quit. Went to building their own homes, putting nice, beautiful wood ceilings in them and all the other things while God's house laid undone. God sent the prophets. They finally rebuilt the temple of God. The walls, I wish they had time. Building out of the rubbish. I preached that at your church years ago, Brother Larry. I remember that day. God can build more out of the rubbish than you and I can build out of the palace. They looked at all that was done. They looked at the temple and said, oh, it's nothing. God said, it'll be greater than the one Solomon built. We come to Malachi and God becomes silent. How could he not be silent? How could he not be silent? I said, Lord, I can see why you're silent. 400 years. You know what that 400 years of silence was? It was preparing for his son to be born. It was preparing for John the Baptist to come on the scene and tell about the Son of God. And God sat and waited 400 years Are you discouraged about something not working out? You're discouraged it hadn't come on your time schedule? He waited 400 years. But as an angel left heaven, his name was Gabriel, and he flew down into a little home where a little humble girl was and told her she was going to conceive and bear a son. His name would be Jesus. Son of God, the Son of the Highest. He sat upon the throne of his father, David, and ruled the rod of iron. She said, how can this be? I know not a man. The Holy Ghost. It's going to overshadow you. You see, God had never lost His mission. He had never lost His purpose. I wish I had time to go into everything from here through the New Testament. It's all there. It's all there. And we're here now in 2024 and God's mission is exactly the same. And in this service tonight, he has already tugged at somebody's heart and said, why don't you come tonight? Why don't you come tonight? I so loved the world, I gave him only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. How did you give him? On a cross, on a cross, on a cross. And he hang on a cross. And he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And he said, it is finished. And he paid for your sins and mine. I wish I had the energy and the time to tell you the rest of the stories. But God said to me, I'm not discouraged. Don't be discouraged, Johnny. Don't be discouraged. My mission's the same. My purpose is the same. My purpose is to be a God and have a people and they be my people and I'll be their God. Just keep on. Just keep on. Just keep on. One day, the Lord will ascend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I don't have time to go into new heaven and new earth and all the other things, but may I say to you, this purpose of God is going to be exactly like He said. You know what I got to say? I'm going to be in it. I'm a failure and I can boast of nothing, but I can say I have a Savior that can do anything. And He is the God of gods and Lord of lords and King of kings. There'll be people sing about Him being the King this month. They'll sing about Him being the Lord of Lords this month. They'll sing about Him being wonderful, majestic. They'll sing glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. And many of them will know nothing about what they're saying. But I can say, brother, I thank God I do. I can lay my head on my pillow tonight and say hallelujah to Jesus. I know what it's all about. We sang that song while ago, and I had a little bit of difficulty singing it. When it comes to that part, I know not how you saved me, I said, Lord, I do know how you saved me. And I know not why, I said, I do know why. Because you told me why. You love me. You love me. It's because you love me. It's you, not me. You love me. Not that I first loved you, but you love me. Let's bow our heads tonight. I'm tired physically, but I'm not tired of what I'm talking about. I'm as excited today as I was when I was a young, young man preaching the Word of God. I'm telling you tonight, I serve a God. Oh, He's majestic. He's majestic. He's majestic. And He's able to save you tonight. He's able to save you tonight. He's able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think. The question tonight is not what God wants. I know what he wants. He wants you to be saved. But he's not going to make you a robot. He's not going to make you a statue. He's not going to make you a wooden Indian. It's what you're going to do with Jesus tonight. You can walk away from here without him tonight. But I tell you what you can, you can walk to Him tonight. And you can say, Lord, save me. I'm a sinner. I want to be in this. I want you to be my God. And I want to be your people. I want to be born again. I want to be saved. I turn from who I am and what I am and everything else and accept you as my Lord and Savior. I look back over my life and I say, oh my, What a shortcoming I've been. Oh God, what a great God you are. How wonderful, how glorious, how majestic. There can't be enough good things said about God. What will you do with Jesus tonight? I know the service might have been a little long, and I've preached long, I understand. Maybe you're tired, but eternity's a long time. Hell's forever, my friend, but so is heaven. So is the eternal grace of God. What will you choose? Father, in Jesus' name, you've helped me preach tonight. I thank you for it. Lord, I prayed before we got up here and I couldn't hardly stop. I thought about praying again, but I felt like you wanted me to take off preaching. You're such a good God. I'm so little and you're so big. I pray tonight, Lord, that whatever hindrances the devil is using against somebody tonight, you'll make them look small. Let them see the truth. And you said the truth would set them free. We'll thank you for it. I'll give you the glory of what you do, whatever it is. And I know you're not going to quit. We'll thank you in Jesus' holy name. Amen and amen. Let's stand all over the building. I hope you understand Christmas a little better. I hope this Christmas when you see the lights on the street corners and the stars hanging on the flagpoles or on the street poles or on the houses, you'll think about how great God is. Maybe you'll see a little manger scene. Maybe you'll see and you'll look far back behind that and focus on a great God who before this world was ever formed planned a way for you to go to heaven. and to have eternal life and have the gift, that's the greatest gift, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Would you come to Him tonight? I'm not asking you to come to some religion, I'm not asking you to come to some organization, I'm not asking you to come to some person except Jesus, the Son of God and accept Him as your Lord. He came to His own, His own received Him not, but as many as did receive Him, to them He gave them power. They didn't become. He gave them power to become the sons of God. Amen, amen. Would you come tonight? Would you come? Ask the pastor to come and stand with us in just a minute. We'll turn it over to him, Brother Dougie. Don't miss out on heaven, my friend. Don't miss out on the great plan of Almighty God. Don't miss out on what Jesus has done for you. Run to Jesus. Run to Jesus. Run to Jesus. Is He speaking to your heart? Is He revealing your need? Why don't you step out and come to Jesus? He stepped out for you all through eternity past. God has worked to make a way for you to sit in this service tonight and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. The death, the burial, the resurrection of the Son of God. And I would have been glad if God had led me to preach to the rest of the New Testament. And I'm gonna say tonight, God made a way for you to be saved. Don't miss out on what God has done for you. Don't miss out.