We're studying the real Christmas story. But before we get started, I'd like for you, from the bottom of my heart, I ask you this, to pray for Marilyn. She hurt herself, and it was very fortuitous in many ways. She cut her arm pretty bad, just scalped it pretty much. And I hope we're saving this skin on it. But she had pneumonia, and we did not know it. And she was very dehydrated. from the diuretics they were giving her. And she was in atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, and in bad shape. I took her to the hospital, and she was in the hospital all this week. This happened Sunday morning real early last week. And this is Sunday morning very early here, just barely Sunday morning. I'm trying to do these messages tonight late so I can go see her in the hospital tomorrow. We'll catch up with the church later. They can watch the services when I'm here by myself pretty much. So please pray for her recovery and that we can get the right care for her. We have to get the shower completely redone or she could walk in it with a stool in there or built-in seat and they were supposed to do that today but it didn't happen or yesterday now. Hopefully they will get to it today or later and get her back home where I can take care of her again. Thank you for your prayers. I really need them desperately. We're in the 15th class in the real Christmas story. The real Christmas story was not just the birth of Jesus, not just the little baby in the cradle in Bethlehem, or the young boy in Nazareth, or the toddler in Egypt. It was a whole ministry that he had his whole life, 33 and a half years. And there's a, by the way, I'm going to throw this little thing out there. Some of the early historians said that he was nearly 50 years old when he was crucified. I believe that he was probably 33 and a half years old, but I'm telling you some history that goes back there. I've done a lot of reading in history, and there's some pretty strong evidence in some ways about that. Now let's get here in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Kata Lukan. And I'm going from Luke here because he looks at Jesus as the God-man. Really, he looks at Jesus as he was human. In John 1.14, it says, kai hologos sarxegento, and the word, or the Jehovah, the word hologos there comes from the word ha-the-bar in Hebrew, which was a replacement for Jehovah. HaShem, the name, or Ha, the bar. And they did not say the name Jehovah. So, when you read John 1.14 and John 1.1, it says, In beginning kept on being the Jehovah, and Jehovah kept on being an inseparable part of the Godhead, because Jehovah kept on being God, or God kept on being Jehovah. Jesus never ceased being God, but He became man too. He was our kinsman redeemer, our Goel. John 1.14, and the Jehovah fleshy became and dwelt among us, and we beheld the glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1.18 says, no one has seen God but the only begotten God, the one being in the bosom of the Father. They were always a triune God. We are triune in our being. We are spirit, we are soul, and we are body. We are not complete and we have all of that. God is not complete without Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Simple as that. No one has seen God at any time, but the only begotten God, the One being in the bosom of the Father, that One has led Himself out. It doesn't say explained Him, it says He led Himself out from eternity into space and time. Now, the church is in existence. The church began at the seashores of Galilee. The church had a treasure in it. The church now has apostles. The first gift in the church was apostles. And now he's going to put out a limited commission. The church goes out on a limited commission. Now, after this, the Lord appointed 70 others. Now, in some of the original manuscripts, it says 72. 70 others and sent them up two and two ahead of him in every city and place where he himself was going to come. He goes out there and these are the ones that are going out there and make the straight way. The herald his coming. And they do that. This is what we call the limited commission. Now, if they had 72, it would just be like the Sanhedrin going out. The 70 people or the 72 people that went out, went out like judgment. And let's see what it says here. These are judges. And he was saying to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord the harvest and send out labors into his harvest. Go your ways, behold, I'll send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Isn't that what happened to the church after his death, burial, and resurrection? Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes, greet no one on the way. This is not what we do today. The Mormon church sends out people two by two. The Jehovah's Witnesses send out people two by two. This was for that time there. He tells them later on, grab a sword. Get your 45 ready. Get a sword. But right here he said, carry no purse. This is the commission, the limited commission for the 72 that went out. Carry no bag. No shoes. Greet no one on the way. In other words, don't take an extra pair of shoes. Don't take any extra underwear or clothes. This goes. Whatever house you enter in, say, peace be to this house. And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return upon you. And stay in that house, eating and drinking, and what they give to you, the labor is worthy of his wages. Now that can be applied to pastors today. and missionaries today, but this is specifically teaching to them. Who's speaking, who's he speaking to, and what's the subject? Who, what, where, when, and why, as they used to say. The labor is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. Stay there and make my way straight. Teach them what I've taught you, and tell them the Master comes. And whatever city you enter in, and that they receive you, eat what is set before you, and heal the house, for those in the house who are sick, and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you this day, because the king, the face of the king is coming. Now my last message on the real Christmas story was on the kingdom of God. Jesus takes the reigns of the kingdom away from Israel. They were not worthy of it. They were not worthy administrators and he calls his church out and he gives the keys to the church, not to Peter by the way, to the church. Peter was not the rock, Jesus is the rock. The kingdom of God has come near you. Whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, even the dust of your city which clings to our feet, we wipe off and protest against you and yet Be sure that this, that the kingdom of God has come near. Now if you have a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon especially, these people are literalists when it comes to talking about this, but this is not their job today. The two by two and all this stuff, the church goes out. The church witnesses every day. Every person that church witnesses in whatever ground that they're in, whatever avenue of of communication with the world. And they listen, they invite people to come and hear the Word of God. They repeat the Word of God to them. I had a friend, I still have a friend, he's not gone yet. A lot of them are gone. This one's younger than me, quite a bit. And I'm an old man. But he worked at a college, a university actually. And he was a janitor there and he had a lot of people around him. And he was just a wonderful Christian man. And he had one guy there at that college that would give him Hail Columbia all the time, constantly, constantly, constantly. He prayed at his dinner when he ate his lunch, and he read his Bible and all this, and they'd make fun of him. This man would make a ridicule of him. And he left. and came back years later. And he came up to him and he said, Brother, thank you for your witness. He said, I love you. And he said to me, I thought he hated me. But he went off and heard the Word of God. The Word of God was sown in his heart and it produced. And he came back and thanked him for putting up with him and being a witness to him like he should have been. But whatever city you enter in and they do not receive you, go out on the streets and say, even the dust of your city which clings to our feet, we wipe it off, we protest against you. And I've had several Mormons stamp their feet out in my yard because they didn't want to hear the word God, but they played this little game. Yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near. And I say to you, if you'll be more tolerable in that day, for Sodom and Gomorrah than for this city. Sodom and Gomorrah didn't have the church come and witness to them. Sodom and Gomorrah had Lot, his name in Hebrew is Lot, Lot, Lot. Lot means darkness. And he was supposed to be in a shining light and darkness, but he was as dark as they were. He was saved, the Bible says. He vexed his righteous spirit among them, but he wasn't the kind of witness that he should be. Even his sons-in-law, the people that were going to marry his daughters, didn't listen to him when he said, let's go, let's leave the city. His wife didn't listen. She turned around, turned into a pillar of salt. He wasn't the witness that he should have been. And he said, The Master comes. The King of the Universe will come. And He will witness to these people. And you did not want Him. You did not want the King. You did not want to see the face of the King. And He said it would be more tolerable in the Day of Judgment, way over here yonder, in the Great White Song of Judgment, more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for you. Sodom and Gomorrah didn't see the the great miracles of the King of the Universe. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which occurred in you, you would have repented long ago, sitting in south-clothed ashes. Would it be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, and the judgment then for you? Now God brought great judgment down on Tyre and Sidon, He scraped the dirt down from the whole city and threw it in the ocean. Alexander the Great did that for the Lord. More tolerable to Tyre, Sidon, and Judgment than for you. And OU Capernaum. Capernaum means a beloved home. Capernaum was a very proud city. There was a synagogue in Capernaum, of course. OU Capernaum will not be exalted to heaven. Will you? You will be brought down to Hades, the place of departed spirits. Hades is the same word in Greek for Sheol in the old place. Sheol means the place asked about. Hades means the place not seen. The one who listens to you listens to me. And the one who rejects you rejects me. And he who rejects me rejects the one who sent me. And the 72, and if you look over in your manuscripts, you'll see that in the original manuscripts it says 72. Just the same number as the Sanhedrin court. And the 72 returned with joy and saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. Jesus had power to give power and authority. The word authority, exousia in Greek, it means no limits. Jesus powers through the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit empowered him. Jesus is a man, but he's God. But he laid aside his divine powers and used the powers of the Holy Spirit while he's on this earth. And he said, in the seventh year of his return, even the demons are subject to us in your name, by your authority on Manta. By your authority. You were brought to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And by the way there in the original Greek language it says in the name singular, not names of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are not three gods. There is one God manifest to us like we are. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have soul, spirit, and body. Body is the representation of Jesus Christ. Our soul is the Father, our spirit It's the Holy Spirit. We're made in His triune image, in His shadow-casting likeness, in His blood-flowing likeness, and His sovereign likeness. Even the demons are subject to this. And He said to them, I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Isaiah 14, 12-21. Helel was a real name like that. Helel. I saw Helel. fall from heaven like lightning. That's when he fell, right up here, Satan's path. Satan's path in Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents. This isn't for you today, people. Them snake handling charismatics, this isn't for today. This is not for today. This is for them then. Who's speaking? Who's he speaking to and what's the subject? He's talking about the 72. Behold I've given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall injure you. Paul the Apostle was getting some firewood to throw on the fire and a snake bit him. A poisonous snake, a venomous snake, a viper. And it didn't hurt him. We got snake handlers today. People have died all over this country. by sure ignorance because of what is to read here and then in the Matthew, or not Matthew, but Mark, the 16th chapter and verses 9 onward are not in the original language. They're not there. That was put in much later. I've given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions for all the power of the enemy and nothing shall enter you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this. that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. Your names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and wouldn't God do that? In eternity past. Verse number 21, At the very time he rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, I praise thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you did hide these sayings from the wise and intelligent and did reveal them unto babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was, well-pleasing to your sight. You know, the blind see. The blind see, but the blind seal their fate because they won't look unto the One. Think about it. Israel in the wilderness. God sent brazen serpents among them and this fiery bite that bit them, but all they had to do was live was to look. Just look. Look. Think about it now. John, the third chapter. As Moses lifted up and served in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man will be lifted up. And all we have to do is believe and look. Jesus is the Savior, the only Savior of the world. The only way many men will ever get to heaven is not by your good works, not by holy life, but by trusting and believing and repenting and calling upon God to save your soul. You know, once you're saved, you're always saved, if you're truly saved. I've seen people go down to the altar. I've seen people baptized and just go out and just live like they're gonna live like they did before. They have boyfriend, girlfriend religion in churches. They go to church, they have a boyfriend, girlfriend, and pretty soon they are baptized and then they break up and then they go their own way and just go whatever they were doing before, they go back to it. That's not true religion, people. True religion changes your mind. It changes your life. You may go out and do the things you did before, but you're not going to be comfortable with it. You'll never be comfortable with it if you're, say, if you're vexing your Holy Spirit. At this very time, you rejoice greatly in the Holy Spirit. I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that did You hide these things to the wise and intelligent, and did reveal them unto little children, unto babies, little speechless babies. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. And who is the Father? except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Jesus, by His blood, calls the Son to Him. And all we have to do is look, look, look. How hard is it to look? We look at the stars, we look at the trees, we look for wild animals in the forest, and why won't people believe and look to Jesus for their salvation? It's not in you, it's in Him. And turning to the disciples, he said privately, blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see. They're blessed to see this, what they saw. For I say unto you that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, did not see them. They hear the things which you hear and did not hear them. Hear the things which you hear and did not hear them. Now this, look, sometimes people back in Jesus' day, there's a man here, this is a very powerful man, he's a lawyer, he's an expert in the law of Moses. And a certain lawyer stood up and put him to the test saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, what have you done? He said to him, what is it written in the law? You're a lawyer, tell me what you have to do. How does it read? to you. How does it read to you? The law was supposed to point us to Jesus Christ, not to our own righteousness, but to Him. And He answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and all your neighbor as yourself. And He said to him, You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. But here's God standing before him. But wishing to justify himself to Jesus, who is my neighbor? Jesus replied and said a certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He's talking about a real story. We're talking about the Samaritan and a Jew that meet on this road. A certain man was going down. He's talking about a specific man now. This happened. From Jerusalem to Jericho. That's downhill. And he fell among robbers and they stripped him and they beat him and they went off leaving him half dead. Now, down to Jericho was a place that was like Rodale Drive. That was like Martha's Vineyard where all of these lawyers went. Went there and it was kind of like the Palm Springs of the area. It still is. Jericho, the place of palm trees. Lots of fruit. And warmer weather in the wintertime. And by chance a certain priest was going down on the road. And he saw him and he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, a priest and a Levite. who also came to the place and saw him and passed on by on the other side. They just went on. Now here is this dreaded character that they don't even want to walk through that land of Samaria. But a certain Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him and when he saw him he felt compassion. And he came to him and he bandaged up his wounds and pouring on oil and wine on them, this is antiseptic, and healing powers, this is what he did, and put them on his own beast. put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him there, because he's a human. And on the next day, he took out two denarii, two denarii, that's silver coins, equivalent to one whole day's wages. He took out two days' hard work wages. And he said, And he gave them to the innkeeper. They didn't have a hospital back then, but this is the next best thing. This is about all they had. Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will return and I'll repay you. He was more a fellow man than the Levite and the priest. Which of these three do you think proved to be the neighbor to the man who fell into the robber's hands? And he said to one who showed mercy toward him, and Jesus said to him, go and do the same thing. Go out there and do the same thing, because if you go out and do the same thing, I have changed your heart. I put a new heart in you. Now as they were traveling along, he entered into a certain village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. This is Bethany, by the way. These, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, they were siblings together, and these were the people that Jesus grew up with. He knew these people. These were close friends, lifelong friends. And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word, seated at his feet. But Martha was distracted by all the preparation. She came up to him and said, Don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work serving along and tell her to help me? But the Lord did something very unusual. Now he's known these people all their lives, all his life. And the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things. But only a few things are necessary, really one thing for Mary has chosen the good part, which she shall not be taken from her. Don't take her favor away. She was sitting at Jesus' feet, Mary. Mary. Martha was a good woman. In family, sometimes there's a people that doers and getters. The doers and the getters in the family. Some of them do all the work, and some of them get everything. I'm not saying that Martha or Mary was bad people, either one of them. They were both wonderful people. They were both lifetime companions with Jesus. But Mary had chosen the most important thing, was hearing the words of life. Do you look to Jesus? Do you hear the words of life? Jesus said, all who come unto me, ye that are heavy laden, overburdened by the law, come unto me and I'll give you rest. He comes in the light, the light. He was the light of the world. He was the water of life. He was the bread of life. Later on, when he gave the church the Lord's Supper, before he was crucified, The church had the Lord's Supper the second ordinance. The first one they already were baptizing. The church was baptizing, not Jesus. Now they have the Lord's Supper instituted. Do this in remembrance of me. Jesus is our Savior. He's our Lord. He's our everything. All we have to do is look unto Him. Look to Him. Our Father, we send this message out this night, early morning, as I try to feed your sheep. Please use it wherever it goes. Touch the hearts of those out there with your word to make them want to love you more, to follow you closer, and to appreciate what you've done for them through your Son. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.