November, don't preach Christmas themes until Christmas Day, you're right there at it. But it seemed like the Lord gave me liberty to preach some Christmas themes from now on until Christmas Day. And so tonight, if you have your Bible, I want you to turn back to Matthew 2, where we read a little bit in the beginning of it, but tonight we're not reading in the beginning, we're reading over in the middle of it, just three verses there. And verse 13 through verse 15 tonight, and I tell you what would be a good Christmas gift is about a 20-minute sermon, wouldn't it? Tonight. Matthew chapter 13, 14, and 15. And the Bible said, And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee unto Egypt. And be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. And when he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed unto Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the LORD by the prophets, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Thank you, and be seated. Our gracious Father, we thank you, Lord, tonight for being so good to us. And Lord, we appreciate so much your slowness to anger and your great kindness and your longsuffering, Lord, not only toward us but toward our loved ones and others, Lord, that may not be where they need to be right now. but you've not dealt with them according to their sins. You've had mercy and been long-suffering and kind and we thank you for that. Now, Lord, as we come tonight we just ask you, Lord, to take, Lord, this little, this little thought here tonight and we pray you'd give us the introduction and the closing remarks and fill in in between and we pray, Lord, you'd season it, Lord, out of heaven. And Lord, we thank you tonight for all that's Lord, You know every heart. Some are here, Lord, at a cost, Lord, because of what they're going through. Others are here, and Lord, they don't feel well. They don't feel like being here, and Lord, just thank You for everyone that took the time, Lord, to get ready and come over this way, and I pray it wouldn't be in vain. Now, if it's left up to me, it will be, but Lord, I pray it won't be left up to me. I put it in Your hands and pray You'll speak to us out of these verses. And Lord, we pray for the lost to be saved, for the saved to be encouraged and lifted up, and we ll thank you in Christ s name, Amen and Amen. If the Lord lets me live until December the 25th, I will have celebrated 68 Christmases down here. And of course I don t remember the first few too much about them, but I have a lot of recollection and a lot of memories of all the ones up to now. And really we've had some times where we've had some family to die during December, during the Christmas season, and that always makes it a little tough. But I have to say altogether that God's been good, and I've never known what it was not to have a good Christmas. And I've thought about that a lot because I know there's so many people in the world that ain't never known what it was to have anything but a bad one. And so we ought to be thankful and we ought to be grateful for what God has, you know, let us experience and what the Lord has let us have. Now, of course, this Scripture reading that I read tonight, it actually falls after the Christmas story. Well really the scripture right before it comes two years after the Christmas story because it's not a baby in a manger it's a child in a house and so two years have elapsed and so what we read in verses thirteen down through verse fifteen it's not the Christmas story but it is connected with it and What we read here is Mary and Joseph, they take the child Jesus down into Egypt as to the warnings of the Lord. Now, they took Jesus down into Egypt. Well, really, Jesus is Christmas. And so I want to preach tonight on having Christmas in Egypt, having Christmas in Egypt. You see, that's all we've ever done, really. cause we re down here in this whole world. And really all we ve ever done really is have Christmas down here in Egypt. You say, What kind of place is Egypt? Well, it s the kind of place you and I live in. And we can go to Exodus chapter 1 and we can find out what kind of place Egypt was in verse 11. The Bible said it was a place of burdens. That s what this is down here. It s a place of And just because we sing joy to the world the Lord is come or silent night or beautiful star Bethlehem, it don t mean during December all the burdens go away. No, there s a lot of people during this time of the year that are lonesome. More suicides are committed during the month of December, I ve read, than any other month of the year. And you say, Why? Because this land we live in is a land of burden. And no doubt many of you tonight have a burden. If you don t have one, you probably have had one, and for sure you re going to get one. But Egypt s a place of burden. Not only is Egypt spoken of as a place of burden, but in verse 14 it s spoken of as a place of bitterness, bitterness. He said their lives were made bitter. And so Egypt is a place of oftentimes we have to fight to keep from becoming bitter at the things that happened to us down here in Egypt. But then the Bible says not only is the place of burden in verse 11 and verse 14 a place of bitterness, but also in verse 14 it's a place of bondage. And many tonight in this world that we live in are in some kind of a bondage tonight. They're trapped, they're caught by some bondage tonight. That's the kind of place that you and I are celebrating Christmas in. That's the kind of place that you and I, ever since we've been saved, we've always had Christmas down in Egypt. But these three verses tell me something tonight that I want to share with you tonight about having Christmas in Egypt. When we read verse 13, the Bible said there in verse 13, it said, And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream. saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee unto Egypt, and be there until I bring word. For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. Now, what we see in the life of Jesus here is we see that God the Father has stepped in. And we see here that God the Father is making sure that even though his son, even though Christmas is down in Egypt, that there's preservation. I'm glad to know tonight that the God of heaven, that he warned, he spoke, he moved upon Joseph and Mary and he said, you take the baby Jesus and you go down into Egypt. And what God was doing was God was watching over that child, amen. that God was preserving him. And you know what? You and I tonight, we're not ignorant to the fact of the preservation of God. Why, there in the book of Exodus we read how that, how that they were killing all the male children. and we read how that Moses, the Bible said that Moses was a goodly child and one of favor, and the Bible said that God moved upon his mother and moved upon his father, no doubt as they sat and talked and worried about their babies, the Bible said that no doubt that God spoke to them and told them what they needed to do. I'd take a little ark, I'd pitch it within, without, with pitch, and put that baby in it, and lay it down there in the Nile River. Well, that must have been hard for them to do. It's hard for mamas to let go of them babies, amen, more so than it is maybe for the daddies or the men. She had to let it go, amen. I'm glad to know that when they put that little baby down there, that wasn't her plan. A lot of things we think's our plan, we think's our doing, it's not. It's the doings of the Lord. It was the Lord that put that in their heart to do that. It was the Lord that give them faith to put that little baby down there in the Nile. There it was in that little ark. alligators, everything else around there, and they put it in there. And God, the Bible said that the daughter of Pharaoh was coming down the river about that time, and the Bible said there in verse number 5, the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself in the river, and her maiden walked along beside the riverside. And when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. No doubt she realized immediately this was a Hebrew child, but God knows how to do things. God knows how to preserve things and to make preservation for things. And so about the time that he got the baby, the Bible said them two words, and the child wept, the babe wept. Well, it moved upon that woman's heart, amen? But you see, God was in control all along. because the Bible said the maiden, the Bible said, was Moses' sister. And she went up to Pharaoh's daughter and she said, you want me to get somebody to nurse that baby for you? And she said, yeah. And so she went and got the baby's mother. Now, that's the Lord, amen? That's the providence of God. I mean, you get to raise your own child and get paid for it. Well, I think what happened, I think they went down, they got that baby, and they brought it up, and she brought it up and laid it in the arms of Pharaoh's daughter, and it had been crying, and I think about the time she looked down at it, it said, Goo-goo-ga-ga. And I think her heart just melted. And I think she had to have that baby. And it was God's way of preserving that child for what God had for it. And God preserved the Lord Jesus when He sent Him down into Egypt. And I tell you, it ought to give you comfort tonight to know that the God of heaven, that He knows how to guide and direct and God knows how to bring preservation to your children. If you're like me, the way this world's gotten, the way it's getting worse by the day, you worry about them grandbabies. You worry about them, amen? I was talking this morning. I didn't tell all that I had intended to tell, but I was telling about yesterday. We had our great grandson, Cam, all day. First day we'd got to have him. and we brought him over here to the church, and I was sharing with Caleb at lunch, and while we were standing there, he was walking around looking at the church, five years old, and he said, I ain't never been to church, and we went into the Sunday school room, Miss Kim's Sunday school room, we went in there, and about that time, he said, I ain't never been to church, but he looked and he said, but I know who that man is, and it was a picture of Jesus on the wall, And I said, praise God, amen. And you help us pray about that. We're hoping and praying that he'll be in church in the coming year, if not before. But I'm glad, I'm glad. The Bible said he cannot be hid. And even though he hadn't been to church, he knowed who that man was. And I'm glad tonight, listen, I'm glad that God has a way of preserving, protecting, taking care We don't have to be afraid to let them go. We don't have to be afraid to put them in God's hands. And I'll tell you sometimes the best thing we ever did was put them in God's hands. Amen. Well, we see here in the past that God has always been a God of preservation. We see, we see the peril of why that we need God to preserve us. The Bible said in there in verse 13, Herod will seek to destroy him. Well, the world still wants to destroy anything to do with Jesus. Amen. And it ain't only Jesus, the world tonight, it wants to destroy the church. It wants to destroy every child of God. It wants to destroy anything that has anything to do with the connection to Jesus. But I'm glad they can't. Amen. I'm glad they can't destroy a child of God. You say, why? Because of the preservation of God. Amen? Why, you say, why, they can kill us, not unless God lets them. But if they do, the worst thing that's going to happen to us, we're going to be in heaven. Amen? And so we have God's promise, God's protection, and we need it down here in this world because this world, has become such a, a dangerous place. The Bible said perilous times would come, and brother, that scripture's fulfilled. They are here. They ain't coming, it is here. Amen. I never have understood why these people go so crazy over a manger scene. I never have understood why they spend billions of dollars in court battles over a manger scene. The only thing I can figure out is they're scared to death of that child. Amen. They're scared to death of Jesus. and anybody finding out anything about Jesus, amen. I'm glad the Bible said the steps of good men are ordered by the Lord. He delighteth in all his ways. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord will hold him up. I like Proverbs 34. You say, what's it say? Verse 17 said, the righteous cry, and the Lord heareth them, and delivered them out of all their troubles. It says, Job said man's days are few and they're full of trouble. I wore a congregation of people out for about the first eight years, reminded them what they already know. that the Bible said their days were going to be few and there's going to be full of trouble. But I can remember like it was yesterday, sitting down in my study on a Saturday night preparing to preach and looking at that scripture and the Holy Ghost of God spoke to me and He said, Son, you've been telling about that trouble for the last eight years. He said, when are you going to tell them about the rest of it? I said, What do you mean? And that scripture come to my mind that I just quoted, that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver them out of them all. We don't have no trouble tonight that God's not able to deliver us out of. It may take death and going to heaven to get out of it, but if that's what it takes, that's what God'll do. But I'm glad tonight, I'm glad tonight. You see the world, the world tonight, they hated that child. They wanted to kill that child. The very idea, an old king troubled by the birth of a baby. Because they said, where is he born, king of the Jews? And immediately he got threatened. He thought somebody was going to take His place, and He's right, somebody is. Jesus wasn't going to be a king, the Bible said He was born a king. They're not going to make him king just like you're not going to make him lord. He's already lord. Amen. He's already lord. He's always been lord and he's always been king. He was king when he came the first time and he'll be king when he comes the last time. I saw him on a white horse and the Bible said upon his vesture was written king of kings. and Lord of lords. Well, it gives me comfort tonight to know even though we have to celebrate Christmas down here in Egypt, it gives me comfort to know that He's been down here. He knows what it's like. He hasn't left us comfortless. The Holy Ghost is still with us, and He's still comforting God's people tonight. And I say praise God. Amen. We see while we're celebrating Christmas down in Egypt, there's preservation. Somebody's taking care of us. Boy, the Lord, He must be some kind of a long-suffering person, ain't He? Boy, the Lord, you ever get to praying about your family and get to thanking God for His long-suffering taught them? When they're not living for God or trying to make any effort and yet God's still good to them, isn't God good to us? Thank God this evening that we have a God like that. Look in verse 14, and the Bible said, And when he arose, talking about Joseph, he took the young child and his mother by night, and they departed unto Egypt. Well, we're like them, Joseph, Mary and Jesus. We may be in Egypt, listen to this, we may be in Egypt at Christmastime, but we're not like Egypt in Christmastime. Amen. I'm glad to not. Listen, I'm not like this world. I used to be, but I'm not anymore. You say, what happened? I found Jesus. He come into my heart. I'm not what I used to be. Amen. I know how the world celebrates Christmas, and that's not the way Christians celebrate Christmas. We may be having Christmas down here in Egypt, but we're not like Egypt tonight. Amen. If you are, you've got problems. If you are, you've got troubles. If you are, you need to get saved. Or you need to get re-upped with the Lord if you celebrate Christmas the way this world celebrates Christmas. It has nothing to do with Jesus at all. You see, there's a difference. There's a difference even though we're down in Egypt. There's a difference between us and Egypt. Amen? Isn't that what Jesus said in John 17 and verse 11? He said, You're in the world. but you're not of the world. I can't help being here. It's where God put me. I used to feel guilty because I wasn't born in Africa or India and because I had it so good, but I didn't have no control over that. Amen? I didn't get to decide who my parents were or where I was going to be born. I didn't have no control of that. I'm just here where God put me. You say you're going to stay here. I don't know. I just seem to go from heaven to here. Right here is anywhere else I've been. But I want you to know tonight, listen, there's a difference tonight. You see, we're in the world, but we're not up the world. We're like a boat in the water. We're in the water, but we're not part of the water. We're separated tonight. And that boat will make it just fine unless the water gets in it. Now as long as it's in the water, it ain't going to have no problem. But if the water gets in the boat, we've got trouble. And if enough water gets in there, the boat's going to sink. Amen? But I'm glad tonight, listen, I'm glad tonight that in a world of darkness, we're not like them. You say, what do you mean? We're not going to celebrate Christmas in Egypt by getting drunk and smoking pot and having a party and sleeping with somebody else's wife. We're not going to celebrate Christmas like that. You say, why? Because we're in Egypt, but we're different from Egypt. We don't have a bunch of darkness in our house. We don't have a bunch of X-rated movies and pornography and all of that darkness. We don't have that. You say, why? Because we're Christians. We're saved by the grace of God. And even though we may be living in dark Egypt tonight, we've got light in our dwelling, praise God. When you read about down there in Egypt, they said the darkness could be felt. You say, what's that mean? I used to wonder about that. But I'm starting to get it, aren't you? You can almost feel the darkness. I was traveling somewhere this year back early in the year, and I was coming just past Columbus, Ohio. And I was about out of gas, and I stopped to get gas. I couldn't get my car to work, I had to go in. And I went in, and I'd never seen such looking people in my life. And I could feel the darkness. You ever been in a place like that? where you just feel the wickedness, you could feel the darkness. You say, what did you do? I turned right around, went back out and got my vehicle and drove a little farther down the road before I got any gas. Listen, I'm glad tonight down at my house, 1721 Roseville Road, I'm glad we got a little light down there, amen. I'm not talking about the Christmas lights on the front of the house. I'm talking about this old King James Bible that the Bible said the entrance of thy word giveth light. I'm thinking about this old Bible that says it's a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I sung that song this little light of mine in Vacation Bible School and I'm still singing it and I'm still trying to let it shine. I'm telling you this morning, listen, there's a difference between the world and us tonight. Oh, they're gonna celebrate Christmas. They love fellow one time he was against putting up a tree and he's getting Santa, you know, and all that stuff. And I said, Look, bud. I said it ain't that. It ain't that man in a red suit with a with a white beard acting like he's Santa that I said that ain't what's killing our church. What's killing our church is them people in three-piece suits acting like they're Christians and living like the world. That's what's killing them, amen? Look tonight, there's a distinction tonight between the world and us. An idol's nothing to us. That's what Paul said. An idol's nothing to us. Don't mean anything to us. We worship the Lord. We worship Jesus. Amen. That's what it's all about. And we know that tonight. And not only is there a preservation down in Egypt, but there's an identification down there. When Jesus and Mary got down there and Joseph, they was different from the other people down there. We got an identification in this old world. We're known as a lot of things. Down at the barber shop, I've heard them call us Bible thumpers. Amen? Over at the school, I've heard them call us goody two-shoes. Amen. One of my granddaughters texted me this week, and she said, Papa, she said, there's some boys that said I was pretty, but she said, they said I was too good a Christian for them, too much a Christian girl. And I said, you don't need them anyway. I sent her back a little thing, said, you don't need them anyway, and put a devil's face right there back. Amen. You say why? Well, there's a distinction there. But that's the way it is. The world don't like it if you're too much a Christian. Young or old or middle-aged, they don't like it. They don't mind you having a Bible as long as you don't tell them what's in it. That's where the trouble comes in. And all you're doing is just showing them the Word of God, what God said, and it ain't what you said. You don't even have to speak it to them. Let them read it. But they don't like it. You say, why? Because there's a difference between us and them. Amen? You can see the distinction in Matthew 26. You remember what that is? That's where Peter got in trouble. Sometimes Christians get in trouble. You know what happened to Peter? He got walking a little bit too far off, and that'll do it every time. Start messing a little church, messing a little more church, a little less Bible reading, a little less preaching, a little less Sunday school. It'll get you every time. And the Bible said Peter was falling far off, verse 69, chapter 26. Now Peter sent without in the palace, and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also was with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the ports, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while they came unto him that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee. And then he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crowed, and Peter remembered the words of Jesus. Now, watch this, watch this. I'm talking about an identification. I'm talking about a distinction. I'm talking about a difference. You ought to be able to tell a child of God by the company they keep, by the company they keep. You say, well, you don't think Peter was a follower of the Lord? Oh yeah, he's a disciple of the Lord. But you couldn't tell it by the company keeps. That's why there's a distinction between you and the world. You shouldn't, you shouldn't know anything about all these new, all these new slot trials they put in all around town. You won't be able to name one of them. And I say you probably can't. You shouldn't have been into one of them. And I'd say this bunch here tonight probably ain't been But you know why? Because that's not our company. That's not my crowd. It used to be, but it's not anymore. I have an identification now. I've been living for God long enough now that people know that I'm a Christian, that I'm a child of God. Amen. My neighbor knows I'm a Christian. You say, why? He sees my car leave every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night. He knows I have an identification tonight. Not only was there the company that he kept that should have been his identification, but verse 73, there was a communication. They said, we know him, his speech betrays him. Your speech ought to betray you as a child of God. You oughtn't to be using four-letter words You ought to be taking God's name and attacking something else to it. The way you talk, I worked at that factory for 23 years as well as these other guys did, longer than I did. But nobody had to tell me somebody was a Christian. They didn't have to wear a badge and say, I'm a Christian, I'm saved. When I worked with them about a week and I listened to them for about a week, I could pretty much guarantee they were a saved and they were a child of God. You say, why? They didn't talk like the rest of the people, amen. They didn't talk like them. You said your speech betrayeth thee. And even though Peter got down there, you said the Bible said that Peter swore, cursed it says there in verse 74, but he's still different. Even though he did that, he's still different. You say why? Watch verse 75. He said he remembered the words of Jesus. He had a conscience in there that wouldn't let him get by with it. You see, I've done things since I've been saved, as I'm sure some of you have, but you couldn't get by with it. I remember one time there was a shift party, used to have shift parties ever so often when they'd change shifts. Back when we first started, we worked three months at a time, nights, days, second, have a shift party. And really about all it was was a keg party, so to speak. And sometimes you get so rejected by the world And you're so off by yourself because they don't want nothing to do with you, you get lonesome, it bothers you. And one day this old boy come by and he said, hey Rick, said we're having a shift party, do you want to come? And immediately I knew I wasn't supposed to go. But I was so desirous for a fellowship, I said yeah, I'll go. That guy, he was walking all the way, I was on the first press and he was walking all the way through to the press room taking names of people that wanted to go to the shift party. By the time he got six presses down, I was looking for that guy and I was walking behind him. I said, hey, and he said, yeah. I said, mark my name off. He said, what's the matter, your wife won't let you go? I said, no sir, it ain't my wife, it's my father. You see, I had a conscience that bothered me. And the world said, don't know God, don't got the Holy Ghost living inside of them, don't know nothing about the Bible. That's why they go out there and we say, how can they do all these things? They ain't got no conscience. If they have, it's seared. It's seared. They don't feel it no more. Boy, I've got a conscience. Before I got saved, I had a conscience, but now the Holy Ghost is my conscience. They won't let me get by with much. My son, Scott, and we had more trouble, I guess, out of Scott than we did Corey. Do you agree with that? Can I get a big amen back there? And every time Scott would do something, he'd get caught that quick. And some of the stuff he'd done wasn't real smart. He got off the bus and he made it all else on his grave card and he throwed it down in the tile there by the mailbox. Well, I get the mail every day. Every time he'd do something, he'd get caught. He even made the statement. He said, I can't do nothing, I get caught. That's good. The best thing that ever happens to anybody when they do something they shouldn't do is get caught. It might save your life. It might keep you out of hell. You've got a conscience. Let me say this. We're having Christmas down here in Egypt. This will be my 68th one if the Lord lets me live to December 25th. I've gathered my family in around the table. We've always had plenty to eat. Even when my family and her family passed away during that time, we were still able to have Christmas. There was a little darkness there, but we had comfort because we knew their profession. We knew they said they'd been saved, and that helped during that time. You say, well, why are you having Christmas down in Egypt for the same reason they was? They was told to go down there by God, amen. God put us here. We didn't put ourselves here. And they want us out of here. They want us out of here. They want to get rid of us, get rid of the Bible. They want to get rid of all that. Hey, I'm all for it. I'm just waiting on somebody to come and get me, amen. but right now I'm just like them hostages, I'm detained here. I can't leave. The Bible said, the Lord said, you go down there and be there until I bring thee word. We're just waiting on a word. Amen. The world's in darkness, we got light in our dwelling. Job said, is not there an appointed time to man upon the earth? Are not his days spent like a hireling? God has appointed us a time. We don't know when it's going to be, but unless we take our own life, we're going to be here till God calls for us. And sometimes that don't even work. I've got books where people have tried to take their own life and they're still laying in a nursing home like a vestibule or something. Sometimes that don't even work. The Word attained down here, the Bible said in Psalms 9 in verse 10, He said, We spend our years as a tale that is told, the days of our years as threescore and ten. If a reason is strength, they be fourscore, yet their strength, labor, and sorrow, and we're cut off, and we soon fly away. The Lord said, Lord, teach me to number my days, that I might apply, I might apply my heart unto wisdom. Amen. You say, what's that mean? Does that mean I'm going to die when I get 70? No, there's plenty of proof sitting around here of that. The Bible said you might live to be older than that. We was watching Brother Grady. He's always sending me something. And he sent me this thing of this interview with this old lady up in Appalachian Mountains. She's 87 years old, still living. And he's interviewing her. And she's sitting there. She owns, I think third grade or something, she owns like 500 acres of land. Of course, it's all like Steve was talking about, his land was. And he's talking to her, and they said, they said, well, what do you do? She said, well, I've sent all my kids through college, all my grandkids through college, and I just got given the last one $4,000 to go to college. But she was calling college, going to school to learn how to drive a truck, because that's what that license was doing. But she said, I paid for all of them. He said, how do you think you've lived so long? She said, well, he said, do you go to the store? Do you have to go to town much? She said, we don't go to the store much. She said we got our hogs out there and we raise our bacon and our hams and said we got our milk cow and we got all that there. She said about the only time that we ever go to town is we go to buy a five-gallon bucket of lard that we cook in. He said, well, what do you attribute? He said, I believe you'll live to be 100. She said, oh, I know, Will. He said, all my family live to be 104, 105. And he said, What do you attribute that to? She said, Well, all this eating right. He said, These city folks don't have this. Amen. But he got down to the end of that thing and he said, Are you religious? She said, Oh, yes. She said, Every night before I go to bed, she said, I take this guitar right here and I sing Amazing Grace. And he said, Would you sing a little bit of it? Of course, Appalachian Mountains, you know, would probably hold this Pentecostal woman. And she got sang in amazing grace. First stanza, you know, about like we do it. But second stanza, the Holy Ghost came upon her. And she got in another key and she was playing so fast I couldn't even keep up with her. And finally she had to stop and she said, I tell you, that sweet Holy Ghost of God gets a hold of me and I just can't, I just can't hold myself! detainment. We re in this world. We don t know how long we re going to be here. I always think of what Brother Arnold said. He s 101 years old. I helped with his funeral, Paul Barry. I said, Brother Arnold said, Why do you think you live to be so old? He said, I quit trying to die every day. He said, Every time I got a pain, he said, I quit running to the doctor. He said, Every time I had a little ailment, he said, I didn t think it s cancer. And he said, I just quit trying to die every day because I figured the Lord would take care of that itself. Well, it s good if you can be that way. Amen. I m not that way. I think every bump s cancer. Every pain must be something you know. But it d be good to be that way. I d say it would extend your life. me give you this last thing here, not only preservation and identification, but look in verse 15, And he said, And they were there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the LORD by the prophets, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Now you say, What are you saying? Well, we re having Christmas in Egypt, but we ain t going to always be in Egypt. One of these days we are going home for the holidays. And I bet even as good as this has been, I bet it will be better, don't you? You say, when are we going to go home? Same way they went out. Look at verse 15, I just read it to you. The last part, Out of Egypt have I called my son, that's Hosea, that's a quote out of Hosea 11.1. God called them and they came out. You know what's going to happen to you and me one day while we're down here in Egypt, maybe having Christmas? The Lord is going to call and we're going to come out. Come out. It's interesting here, I thought it was, look at verse 23, chapter 2, and he said he came and dwelt in a city. He got called out and then he went and dwelt In a city, the Bible said, I think that's what's going to happen to us. The Bible said Abraham looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker was God. Jesus said, I'm going away. to prepare you a place. He went away to prepare a place, a city. John said, I saw the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. Abraham looked for the city. Jesus said, I'm going to build a city. John saw the city, and you and me get to live in it. You can't beat that with a beating stick. Amen? We're going to a city. You say, well, What about it? Well, just one little thing here, and I'm done tonight. We're going to get a call. We're going to live in the city, but there is a crisis. You say, what's the crisis? Verse 16, and he went forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem. The crisis is all these people that ain't coming out of Egypt, they don't get saved. The crisis is all these people that don't know a thing about what I preached about tonight. You see, God preserved Jesus. And Brother Ziegler said, and I'd never thought of it or heard it until he said it, but I believe it. He said when Jesus went down there and His mother and father lost Him and they went to the Passover and they lost Him, they come back, they found Him in the temple. And the Bible said He was about 12 years old. And so the doctors were wondering after Him. I used to think they was wondering after him because of the wisdom he had and the knowledge he had, which might have been part of it. But Brother Ziegler said the reason they was wondering about him was what's a 12-year-old Jewish boy doing still alive? Herod killed them all. Amen? Well, there is a crisis, and we don't need to forget about it in Christmas. We need to remember those who don't know the Lord. Amen. And I bet you've stopped sometimes. I have. I bet you've stopped sometimes and looked back over your life and seen how that God spared you and you wonder how you're still here today. God spared you. Amen. Well, we're having Christmas down in Egypt, but that's all right because God is Got preservation for us while we're down here. The Lord's taking care of us. We can still celebrate. We can still do what we're doing tonight. We can still sing. Thank God. And we've got identification. I'm not a part of this world anymore and they know I'm not. They should know you're not tonight. Thank God we got salvation. Because any day now the Lord's going to call. and we re going home for the holidays, but it ain t going to never end. It s going to be an eternal Christmas. Amen. It s going to be Christmas. You ever heard this saying, Oh, down there at her house, it s Christmas every day? Well, that s the way it s going to be when I get home. It s going to be Christmas every day. Father, I thank you tonight