Take your Bibles, please, and turn to Luke chapter 1. We'll begin reading in verse 26. Luke chapter 1, verse 26. Follow along as I read. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin, a spouse to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in to her and said, Hail, thou that are highly favored, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled as saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Let's pray. Father, we thank you today for this Christmas season. We thank you for what it means to us personally because you sent your son to this earth to die for us. And it's a personal thing, and we thank you so much for it. And I pray, Lord, that you give enablement to bring the message today as we talk about the commands of Christmas and what you told people to do. And I pray, Lord, we might learn from that to do always what you tell us to do. And if there's someone today here that's not saved, I pray that today would be the day of salvation for them as they put their faith and their trust in Jesus Christ. I ask for an able to bring the message and we'll thank you for what you do. We pray in Jesus name, amen. When God made Adam and Eve, they were not affected by sin. They were perfect people, fresh from the creative hand of God. Therefore, their physical capabilities and their mental capabilities were greater than anyone living today. They would be smarter than Einstein. They would have more abilities than anyone else. So they were perfect as God made them with no imperfections at all. And they had perfect use of the human brain that God had made. And really, we have no idea of how smart they really were. When God gave them a test after he had made them these special people, he did not want to see how fast they could run. He did not want to see how high they could jump. He did not want to see how much weight they could lift. He did not want to see how fast they could deal with figures. No, God's test for them was to see if they would obey Him. And ever since that, God's responsibility that He gives to us and the main thing He requires of us is that we obey Him. Obedience is what He wants. The scripture makes it clear that all of man's problems started with disobedience. In Romans chapter five, we read this in verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men for all of sin. And verse 19 says, for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So sin started in the Garden of Eden when God gave man and woman that test, and it's continued ever since. God told the children of Israel, as they had become His people, and He made them a new people, He told them in Deuteronomy chapter 11 what He expected of them. And it says this in Deuteronomy 11 verse 1, Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His judgments, and His commandments always. And then in verse 26, he says this, Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse, A blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, and a curse if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way, which I command you this day, to go after other gods which ye have not known." And so God told them, I want you to obey me. In Deuteronomy chapter 13 verse 4, he said this, You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice and you shall serve him and cleave unto him. In the book of Jeremiah chapter 11, we read that Jeremiah said the same thing in verse 3, Jeremiah chapter 11 verse 3. And the Lord said, And say unto them, telling Jeremiah what to say. He said, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, which I command your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt. For from the iron furnace saying, Obey my voice and do them according to all which I command you, so shall ye be my people and I will be your God. You remember in the book of 1 Samuel, the first king's name was Saul. And God told Saul, he said, I want you to go and deal with the Amalekites. and I want you to obliterate them. Just take care of them. Don't leave any to breathe." And that was God's judgments on the Amalekites. Well, Saul didn't do that. He went and he saved the king and he spared the best of the sheep and the oxen and all that. And his excuse was the people want to do that and sacrifice to God. And Samuel told Saul this, he said, Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. We go into the New Testament, we find in the book of Acts, chapter 5, that the apostles were preaching and they were performing miracles. The religious authorities got really upset with them. and had the government authorities go and put them in prison. And so they were cast in prison. And then the Bible says that the angel of the Lord came and opened the prison doors and brought them out. Now, when you read that account, you find out that evidently the guards didn't know what had happened. Evidently God calls them just to sleep or not see it or something because when they went to get, when the religious authorities sent for them the next day because they wanted to deal with them, they found that the people who went to get them said, look, we found the guard standing before the doors and the doors shut and then we opened the doors and there was nobody there. And so they said, some report came and said, they're preaching. They're doing what you told them to do. And the angel said to him after he got them out of the prison, he said, go stand and speak in the temple all the words of this life. And so they found them there preaching and teaching, and they said this, did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And that wonderful statement they made is this, we ought to obey God rather than men. You see, God requires obedience. He wants us to obey. The Bible says in Romans 6, verse 10, And so, if you yield yourself to sin, you become a servant of sin. God says, I want you to yield yourself to me, and in that passage, he goes on to say, you are to become servants of righteousness. You're to obey God, do what God wants you to do. You see, the Bible makes it clear that animals obey God. I think of some examples. You remember God told Peter to go cast a line, and he'd catch a fish, and that fish would have a coin in its mouth, and he could pay his taxes. Well, how'd that fish ever happen to have that coin in his mouth? It didn't just happen. God told that fish to go pick up that coin, and he did. And then he got on that hook. God commands the animals. You remember Balaam? Balaam was riding a donkey, and he was going, and evidently, in his mind, he had ulterior motives when the Lord said, don't you go and bless, or don't you go and curse Israel. So he was riding a donkey, and the angel of the Lord was there to stop him. He didn't see the angel of the Lord, but the donkey did, and the donkey stopped. That's what God wanted Balaam to do, is stop. You know, you're not gonna go do what you're thinking. And the donkey even talked to Balaam, and Balaam talked back to the donkey. Who made that donkey talk? God did. And you remember the time the Lord rode the colt into Jerusalem when his triumphal entry, and they put the palm branches down? And the Bible makes it clear. It was a colt on which no one had ever ridden. Now, if you get on a donkey, a colt of a donkey that had never been ridden before, it's going to buck and everything. But it didn't when Jesus got on it. Why? Because animals do what God tells them to do. And not only do the animals obey God, but also the wind and the sea obey God. You remember the apostles were with the Lord one time on a boat, and a storm came up, and the Lord was asleep. And they woke him and said, carest thou not that we perish? And he rose and he said to the wind, peace, be still. And it calmed right there. The wind stopped, the waves stopped. It was amazing. And they said this. They said, what manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? So the animals obey him, the wind and the sea obey him, and then the unclean spirits obey him. Remember, he was ministering, and he cast out an unclean spirit, a demon. And they said about Jesus, they said, with authority, he commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. So animals obey Him. The wind and the sea obeys Him. The unclean spirits obey Him. But men are different. They don't obey Him. They disobey God. Men disobey God. And from the Christmas story, we find good examples. Because in the Christmas story, we find that God gives commands to people, to ordinary people. Just ordinary people do extraordinary things when they obey God. And so, God gave commands to ordinary people in the Christmas story. We want to look at that this morning as we look at those commands. And with one exception, they obeyed God. So as we look at this this morning, we want to see how they heard the commands of the Lord, and then they obeyed what God told them to do. The first command is this, fear not. Fear not. Fear not, we can say from the Christmas story, these different things. Fear not when you face unanswered prayer. That was Zacharias and Elizabeth. The Bible says in Luke chapter 1, Zacharias and Elizabeth, they were people who trusted God. They obeyed God. They served God. Even though they were childish way up in years, they had wanted a child, but they were childless. They were not able to have children, but they still kept obeying God. Now, we find out they had prayed about it. but God didn't answer their prayer, but it didn't stop them from obeying God. They went on and served the Lord. And then the Lord said to Zacharias, he said, fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard. You see, I doubt if Zacharias had prayed that prayer recently. Probably been so long time ago, he'd almost forgot about it. Because now he's old, they're not gonna have any children. This is very, it would be almost impossible, at least it's improbable that they would have children. And so he hadn't prayed for a while, but the Lord hadn't forgotten. And the Lord said, fear not, Zacharias, thy prayer is heard. So don't be afraid because your prayers are unanswered. And that was Zacharias. They were not afraid. And God said, you don't need to be afraid because your prayers have been answered. Also, you can say this, fear not when you face the improbable. They faced unanswered prayer, but they also faced the improbable. You see, it wasn't absolutely impossible for a man and woman to have a child that old. I mean, it happened before. Remember Abraham and Sarah. It wasn't absolutely impossible, but sure was improbable. And Zacharias stated this way to the Lord. He said, I am an old man, and my wife is well stricken in years. Now, I imagine that he had said those words maybe before, and he didn't call his wife an old woman. He said, my wife is well-stricken in years. In other words, she's old too. So it's very improbable, very improbable we could ever have a child. It's too late now. But the Lord says, fear not when you face the improbable. Also, fear not when you face the impossible. Now that fear not came to Mary in Luke chapter 1 verse 30. She was a virgin and therefore it was impossible. I mean, there's no possibility for her to have a child and still remain a virgin. That's not possible. And so she said, it's definitely impossible. But do not fear when you face the impossible because with God, you remember the angel told Mary, with God, nothing shall be impossible. Nothing shall be impossible. So fear not when you face the impossible. And then also the Christmas story tells us this, fear not when you face the insurmountable. Now that was Joseph. I mean, he got the word that they were going to have a child, or Mary was going to have a child, and it says, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. What do you mean, Lord? She's been unfaithful. You remember the story says that she had gone to see Elizabeth. Elizabeth was six months pregnant, and she had gone to see Elizabeth, and this Bible says she was there three months. So when she got the word about her having a child, she probably hadn't told Joseph anything about it. And she comes back three months pregnant, and he sees her and says, oh, my, you've been gone for three months, and you come back pregnant. I'm going to have to put you away privately. I don't want to embarrass you any more than I have to, but I can't marry you. You've been unfaithful. And so he faced insurmountable problems, you might say. But the Lord said to Joseph, Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." Now, he's told by God that she is expecting, but it's not by a man, it's by the Holy Spirit. Now, is he going to go ahead and do what God told him to do and to take this wife? Because if he does, he's going to face the objections of his own self. I don't want to be the husband of a woman who's expecting, even if it's true what God says, what are the people going to say? He had to face the objections of his parents. They wouldn't like the idea either. He had to face the objections of society. Regardless of what he told them, they would not believe that story. And so they would cast him as a person who was marrying a woman who had been unfaithful. And he had to face the stigma of having a baby, of conceiving a baby out of wedlock. And so in those days, that was really a problem. Today, it's not considered as bad a problem. It should be, but it's not. But in those days, it really was. And so he faced insurmountable problems. How is he going to get over this? You can't get over it, you just have to do it. And God says, fear not, to take unto thee Mary thy wife. And then there was the fear not when you face the incomprehensible. That's the shepherds. They are said to fear not, and the Lord told the shepherds, the angel told the shepherd, he said, fear not. And the shepherds had never seen anything like this before. They had just seen the angel of the Lord. They had seen the glory of the Lord that shone round about them, and I can't imagine what that must have been like. I mean, the glory of the Lord shone all around about them. There must have been bright lights, or I don't know what it was, but the glory of the Lord, it was very unmistakable. And they didn't understand this. I mean, they couldn't comprehend what was going on. And they were sore afraid, the Bible says. They were sore afraid. They could not comprehend what was happening. They could not comprehend what it meant. But the angel said to them, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. Even though you can't comprehend this, It's going to turn out right. I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. So when we face the unanswered prayers, when we face the improbable situations, the impossible accomplishments, and the insurmountable problems, remember what the scripture says. And the Bible says it like this in Psalm 23. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Isaiah 41, verse 13 says, For I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee. And Hebrews 13, 6, The Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do unto me. So when we face God's command, says, Fear not, and God gives us those commands. Fear not, then we need to obey God and fear not, but to trust Him because He says, I'll be with you. I will help you. Nothing's impossible for me. Fear not. And then there was another command, and that is believe God's promises. Zacharias heard God's promise, but he didn't believe. The Bible says in Luke, The angel told Zacharias, thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son. And then he responded, says, whereby shall I know this? Now, that's a big question. He's actually saying, I can't believe that's true. Whereby shall I know this? Well, it's good enough Gabriel just told you. But he says, how am I going to know this is really true or not? And Gabriel said to him, All right, for nine months, you're not going to be able to speak. And the reason you're not be able to speak is because thou believest not my word. In other words, when I told you something, you're to believe it. And when God tells us something, we're to believe it. And Zacharias didn't believe it, and so he couldn't speak for nine months. Probably a blessing to his wife, I don't know, but couldn't speak for nine months. And then, contrast that with Mary. Mary was also told something that she was supposed to believe. But the difference is, Mary believed it. Mary, in Luke 1, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son. He shall be great, he shall be called the Son of the Highest, and he shall have the throne of his father David, and he'll reign forever and ever. And of his kingdom, there's no end. In other words, he's the Messiah. Wow, what a message to Mary. She said that you're to believe something, and that is you're going to conceive in your womb. That hasn't happened yet, but you're going to conceive in your womb. You're going to bring forth a son. You'll call his name. He's great. He's the son of the highest, and he's going to have the throne of his father David, and he's going to be the Messiah. And then she asked this. She said, how shall this be? You notice the difference? She didn't say, I can't believe it. There's no way this can happen. I mean, how can I know this is going to happen? She didn't say that. She said, how shall this be? She's saying this. I believe you. But how is it going to happen? Because I don't know a man. It's never happened this way. How can I have a baby without a man? And he explains and says, the Holy Spirit shall cause you to conceive, and what you deliver will be the Son of God. Well, Mary responded in belief. The Lord said to her, now, Mary, let me help you out a little bit. Your cousin Elizabeth, old in age, is six months pregnant. You might think that's impossible, but he said, with God, nothing shall be impossible. And then Mary said this, behold, the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. I believe you, Lord. I believe you. Seems impossible, but I believe you. You see, God expects us to believe what he says. He gives us many promises that we are told to believe. And our problem many times is we don't believe what God says. The Bible says in Romans 8, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. When we go through our sufferings, do we believe that? God says, believe it. It might not feel like it, it might not look like it, but believe it. God says it. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed someday. In other words, it's going to be so good someday you won't even think about this. So don't fret yourself over it. Don't be defeated by it. Don't be overcome by it. Endure it. I know it's not easy. It's hard, but just believe this. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. So that's a promise. There's another promise in Romans 8, 28. He says, all things work together for good to them that love him, to them who are called according to his purpose. So if you love the Lord, the Lord says, all things are gonna work together for good. But God, how can this work together for good? How in the world can this work out for good? God says, it's not for you to determine how, it's for you just to believe it. And I says, it will. So trust me, believe it. Romans 8, 32, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him first of all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? In other words, if God loved you so much that he gave his son to die for you, don't you think he loves you enough to take care of you and give you what you need? God says, if I would do that supreme thing of dying on the cross and taking all your sin upon myself, then I'll surely be able to take care of your problems, and I will. That's a promise. Another promise, Romans 8, 37. Seven, nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors to him that loved us. We have problems that are on us and we just can't understand how we can be conquerors in the midst of this. And God says, you can be. Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors to him that loved us. You see, we are, we just don't realize it sometimes. And when everything's over and the Lord's here with heaven, you realize, hey, I am a conqueror. Well, let's realize it now. Believe God, his promise. Also, Romans 8, 38, I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. In other words, he's saying this, I love you and I always love you. And what you're going through right now seems like that I'm against you, I'm not against you, it's impossible for me to be against you because I love you and nothing can separate you from my love. God says, stay under the trial, just be convinced. I love you, I love you, I love you. So we're to obey God. Philippians chapter four says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That's a promise. We're to believe that promise. Philippians 419, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. It's a promise. We're to believe that promise. So let's believe God's promises when he gives them to us. Another command in the Christmas story is this. Step out in faith and do what God says for you to do. Step out in faith and do what God tells you to do. We have some examples of that. Joseph. Joseph took Mary to be his wife, Matthew 1, 20. Joseph, take unto thee Mary thy wife, verse 24. Then Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and he took unto him his wife. Do what God tells you to do. Step out in faith and do what God tells you to do. That's the command of the Christmas story. And they did what God told them to do. Joseph did. With many unknowns before him, he stepped out in faith and obeyed God. You think of other Old Testament examples of that. I think of the three Hebrew men in Daniel chapter 3. They were told to bow down to that image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they said, we can't bow down to that. Because God had told them, don't bow. Don't you bow to any other god. Don't you serve any other god. And they knew that command, and they were going to obey it. And so they did. It seemed like it was impossible for them to survive, but they obeyed. And sure enough, they got thrown in the fiery furnace. And what happened? They came through the fiery furnace with a great testimony, and everybody wanted to hear about it. And everybody gathered around to find out what had happened. I mean, you've been in this fire, and you weren't burnt. How did you survive? Sometimes people ask us after we go through a trial, how did you do that? How'd you stay positive in the midst of all these negatives? How'd you do it? Well, I just did what God told me to do. I stepped out in faith and trusted the Lord, and that's what Joseph did. He took unto him Mary, his wife. When many unknowns before him were there, he still did it. He took unto him Mary, his wife. And so the three Hebrew men, Problems ahead of them. They don't know how God's going to work it out, but they obey God. They do what God tells them to do. Daniel chapter 6 tells us about Daniel himself. He was told not to pray to any god except the king. Well, the king wasn't a god, but he said, I'm not going to pray to the king. I'll do like I always do. And three times a day, he opened his window so everybody could see what he was doing, and he prayed to his god. And they said, all right, you'll be thrown in the den of lions. So, well, bring it on. I mean, I just have to obey God. I must obey God rather than men. They threw him in the den of lions, and of course he survived. And he just did what God told him to do. Stepped out in faith and did what God told him to do. I think of David and Goliath. Everybody was afraid of Goliath, but David feared God. And he said, I'll take him on. And so he faced that nine foot nine giant who had armor all over him from his head to his toe. And not only that, he had an armor bearer in front of him. He wasn't that brave himself, you know. A guy in front of him protecting him from anybody that'd come. So they had to go through that guy before they'd get to him. David said, no, I just need a sling and some stones. And he took one stone, put it in that sling, and swung it around his head and threw it. And it hit Goliath, the vulnerable place that he had, right there. And he fell down. David went up, took his sword out, and cut the man's head off. And he got the victory. Why? He did what God told him to do. He obeyed God. So then there's another example. Not only Joseph, but the shepherds. The Bible says in Luke 2, verse 11, unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, and ye shall find the babe. Now, when it says, ye shall find the babe, there's a command in that, and that is, go look for him. Go look for him. Ye shall find the babe. Now, go look for him. And they said in verse 15, let us now go even into Bethlehem and see this thing. which the angels told us about. So let's obey God. He said, go look for him. Let's go do it. Let's go find him. And they stepped out in faith, believing what God had told them, and they found Jesus. And then the wise men. The wise men found Jesus after they were told by God that he was the king of the Jews. I think that's the only explanation God had to tell them that. Luke chapter 2 says, Where is he that's born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. God must have told them there's the king of the Jews is born and this star is his star. And it's a sign to you. So they saw that star. They were the king of the Jews. That must be in Jerusalem because that's the capital of Israel. And so we'll go to Jerusalem. And the star didn't lead them to Jerusalem. They went to Jerusalem. And when they found out he was in Bethlehem, that was God's leading because it came from the scripture. They went to Bethlehem. And as they're on their way to Bethlehem, the star appeared again. And then it led them all the way to Bethlehem over to where the child lay. and they found Jesus in Bethlehem. What had they done? They had done what God told them to do. They obeyed God. They went forth, found the young child, and worshipped him and presented gifts unto him. You see, they stepped out in faith and did what God told them to do, and they found Jesus. Then there's another thing, another command in this Christmas account, and that is give attention to details. Give attention to details. Now, let's look at some details. In Luke 1, we read it a while ago, verse 13 says, Thou shalt call his name. We didn't read it. It's earlier. But it says in Luke 1 about Zacharias, it says, You're going to have a son. Your wife's going to have a son, even in your old age, and thou shalt call his name John. See, your wife's going to conceive. You have something to do with that, but God's the only one that's going to make it happen because you're so old. But there's something you have to do, and that is you call his name John. Well, the child was born, and remember, the neighbors got around and said, well, let's decide what you're going to call him. Let's call him Zacharias, after his dad. And they asked the mother, and she said, not so. His name shall be called John. So they weren't satisfied with that because these are neighbors trying to interfere, you know. You've probably heard of things like that before. But they were trying to interfere, and so they went to Zacharias, and he asked for a writing tablet, and he wrote down, his name is John. Now, what was Zacharias doing? He was paying attention to details. God said, here's a detail that you have something to do with. You call his name John. And then there's the details to Mary and Joseph. You see, Mary was told, what she was to name this child. In Luke chapter 1, thou shall conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son. God's going to do that part, but here's your part. You shall call his name Jesus. That's the detail I give to you. Pay attention to detail. Call his name Jesus. Now, to Joseph, the same thing happened. Matthew 1, verse 21, the angel telling Joseph said, "'She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin.'" Call his name Jesus. That's the detail. And then there's another detail that sometimes we overlook. And this is a detail that was given to Joseph. In Matthew 1, 23, it says, Behold, what's happening is a fulfillment of the scripture which says this, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son. Joseph heard that. Behold, a virgin shall be with child and a virgin will bring forth a son. Now, Joseph has something to do with that. And so the Bible says in verse 25, and Joseph knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus. There were no intimate relations, sexual relations with Joseph and Mary until the child was born, after they had other children. But that was a detail that God gave Joseph. He said, look, Joseph, you call his name Jesus, but it's a virgin that'll conceive and a virgin that'll bear a son." And so Joseph made sure that that was true and he obeyed God. Then there were the details to the shepherds. You remember the details to the shepherds? The shepherds in Luke 2, 12 says, This shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." God gave them details about what they would look for. And that is, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. That was unusual. But that's what you're looking for. And they paid attention to detail and found the child just like God had said. You see, God gives us details as well. Philippians chapter 2 verse 14 says, do all things without murmurings and disputings. How are we on that detail? Do all things without murmurings and disputings. And churches need to be aware of murmurings and disputings. God says do all things without that. Philippians 4, 6, here's another detail to us. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. It says simply this, don't worry about anything, pray about everything. That's a detail God gives us. We're going to serve Him. We're going to obey Him. Here's a detail. Don't worry about anything. Pray about everything. Philippians chapter 4, another one. It's a hard detail sometimes. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. That's a detail for us. We're to obey that detail. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Here's another one, Philippians chapter four, verse eight. Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, pure, lovely, good, good report, virtuous, praiseworthy, think on these things. It gets down to our prayer life, our thought life. And God says, here's what I want you to think about. Not the bad stuff, but the good stuff. Think on things that are true and honest and just and pure and lovely, have good report, virtuous and praiseworthy. Think on those things. Those are details God gives us and expects us to obey them. So give attention to detail. And then there's one final command in the Christmas story. And that is follow God's directions in order to avoid danger. Follow God's directions in order to avoid danger. I'm sure you know where I'm going there. The wise men avoided danger by following God's directions. And the Bible says it like this in Matthew chapter 2, and being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. But Herod said, bring me word again that I may worship him. He wasn't going to worship him. And so God said to the wise men, don't go back to Herod. You might be in trouble. Don't go back to Herod. Go home another way. And they did that because God warned them. Joseph escaped the wrath of Herod by following God's directions. Matthew chapter 2, Arise, take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. And so he said, here's what you do. So you avoid problems with Herod. You flee into Egypt. That fulfilled the scripture that out of Egypt shall I call my son. And then Matthew chapter two, remember they were gonna go back because Herod had died, but then they found out Herod's son was ruling and they thought maybe that's not a good idea. And so God warned him in a dream and he says, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth. To fulfill the scripture that would say he would be called a Nazarene. So they avoided problems by trusting God and obeying what God said. The wise men of Joseph obeyed God's warnings and avoided the wrath of Herod. God also gives us directions so that we might avoid some things in our life. Let me give you some of those. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 18, flee fornication. He that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. God says, I'm going to give you a command that will help you to avoid problems in your life. Flee fornication. To any young person or anybody, I'd say this. It would be great if you could come to the end of your life and say, I've never been with any woman intimately except my wife. That's rare today. But God says, flee fornication. Why? Because he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. Here's another warning. Proverbs 16, 18. Pride goeth before destruction, haughty spirit before fall. God says, don't be proud. It's going to hurt you. You're gonna fall when you're proud. Proverbs 3, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. God's giving us direction to avoid problems in our life. Proverbs 1, my son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. And then verse 16 says, for their feet run to evil. If sinners entice you, don't consent. their feet run to evil. And this one that sort of wraps it all up in Galatians 6, 7 says, Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. You see, that's a warning. God's giving us directions so that we can escape problems in our life. He said, Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever you sow, you're going to reap. You sow sin, you're going to reap the results of sin. So don't sow the wrong things. You see, ordinary people in the Christmas story did extraordinary things because they honored God by obeying Him. God was looking for obedience in Adam and Eve. He was looking for obedience in the lives of those who were in the story of Christ's birth, and He's looking for obedience in our lives today. God wants us to obey Him. Therefore, we can take those commands from the Scripture and obey them. And those commands are, fear not, believe God's promises, step out in faith and do what God says, give attention to God's details, and follow God's directions in order to avoid problems ahead, dangers ahead. You see, it all sums up really in that song that children sing sometimes, obedience. Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe. doing exactly what the Lord commands, doing it happily. Action is the key. Do it immediately, and joy you will receive. You see, obedience is the very best way to show that you believe. And by the way, if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, the Lord says there in 1 Thessalonians, he says, there's fiery indignation awaiting those who will not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Philippian jailer was said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's command. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And if you don't obey the gospel, You're going to suffer the results of that. God wants us to believe. Let's pray. Father, thank you today for helping us to see the commands given in the Christmas story. And I pray, Lord, that we will learn from those. Help us to be obedient in every avenue of our life. Pray that you'd work in hearts in Jesus' name.