In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus and being connected to Him. He warns against becoming complacent or distracted, especially during the Christmas season. The preacher also urges the congregation to be alert and ready in prayer, as there may be urgent needs that require immediate intercession. The sermon references Micah 4 and highlights the concept of the day of vengeance of God, emphasizing that it is happening now and not something to be retired from or ignored.

Lord as we come unto you this day, great praise and thanksgiving. Lord you are so good, so good, so good, so good. Yes Lord. Oh hallelujah Lord we're glad that Bilad is with us this morning Lord. Praise your name and we pray that all that has caused this little fainting spell Lord will be rapidly healed and there'll be no further problems. Praise your name. Thank you Lord that we're all here and your blessing is on us. Now Jesus, Lord bless the young people we pray out in the Children's Church and each family here Lord. Those that are going through trouble at this time we pray for special wisdom and special help and grace Lord that you will solve every problem. Now Lord I pray as we continue what is said will be very helpful and just what we need to hear to prepare us for the future in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. Seeing as how it's Christmas and all I didn't know whether the Lord would have me speak on Joel's army or rebuilding the gates of Jerusalem. That's the way it usually goes. So we have a scripture here that may somewhat straddle the middle. It's in Micah 5, Micah 5 verses 1 through 4 and we won't be reading the traditional Christmas story in Luke but we hope that you will read it at home so the children will have that background in their lives of our Christian culture and so I hope at some point between now and Christmas or perhaps with Margaret and Bob and their work there that we'll read the Christmas story in Luke that was portrayed this morning. We're going to talk this morning about another Christmas story and it's in Micah chapter 5 verse 10. Alright and it's this passage I believe when Herod asked the wise men where will he be born and they said in Bethlehem because it's written this is where it's written that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem but we see in this passage another birth that is coming to pass in our time. We'll explain as we go along with the Lord's help so let's read now Micah 5 verses 1 through 4. Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel's ruler on the cheek with a rod. But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you still are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come from me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times. Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God and they will live securely for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. Isn't that marvelous? Now you remember that when Jesus stood up in the synagogue in his hometown and he read the prophecy of Isaiah 61, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek and then he read on until he came to the expression and the day of judgment of our God. Hold that place in Micah. If you want to flash on Isaiah 61, I want you to see Isaiah 61, I want you to see something here. You hold your place in Micah 5 and Brian will get Isaiah 61 and I want to show you something remarkable and I want to show you how there are times, there are times, one of the tribes of Israel, I think it was Zebulun, one of them knew the times and it's a wonderful thing to know the times. It's really the job of the prophet. The apostles lay a foundation of truth but the prophets tell us of the times. They tell us what God is saying now and there do come times and it's very often that people miss the time and when Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he said you didn't know the hour of your visitation even though it was in the prophets. When it came, they were looking for Christ to be another Caesar and they missed him. They didn't know the time of their visitation and we today are in one of these ethical times. I know that from the scripture and the prophets are confirming with their testimony, not just in this church but in worldwide. The prophets, there are many today with a gift of prophecy and sometimes they get together in Jerusalem and fast and pray and they're all saying the same thing. We are really in an ethical time, an ethical time. So easy to miss your time. You think of Jesus who was only a carpenter's son and an unknown rabbi would come trudging along the streets of Judea and people didn't know. They didn't know who he was. They didn't know he was the God of Sinai. They didn't know that. They missed the day of their visitation and you can imagine how the priests and others after they died or whenever they found out became aware that they had crucified the Lord's Messiah. They had missed the day of their visitation. And today we can know from the scriptures and from those who do have a gift of prophecy that we are in a very ethical time. Now whether it has to do with the turn of the millennium, I'm not prepared to say. Although, although there are indications in the scripture such as in the tabernacle and in the two thousand cubits between Israel and the ark as it laid out ahead of the Israel in two thousand cubits. There are these kinds of symbolisms in the bible that tell us that two thousand years since the birth of Christ may indeed be significant. And you say well you said it was 1995. When God moves, he moves in pastels. It's not an etching. It's about now kind of thing. About now. God isn't quite as locked into the computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers and computers as we are. So this is a remarkable thing and this is the birth of the Christian era here. And Jesus read along to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners to proclaim the Lord's favor. And after he said that, proclaim the Lord's favor, after he said that, he rolled the scroll up. He did not continue even though he's cutting into the middle of a sentence. He rolled the scroll up. And that's very significant because that tells us that at some future time, the day of vengeance of our God will happen. If that weren't true, he would not have stopped in the middle of a sentence. So we know that Christ, once Christ came, now this is a subtle thought, but once Christ came, he will never leave. Why do you say he went back to heaven? Right, that's what the Bible says. But if you remember he said, lo, I am with you always to the end of the age. And again, where two or three are gathered together in the midst, there am I in the midst. So in that sense, he's still here. He never left. And every time someone is born again, they are repeating the resurrection of Jesus. And that's why it says in Romans 6, no you're not when you were baptized, you were baptized into his death. And if you were baptized into his death, you will be raised with him to walk in newness of life. So every time a person is born again, and Christ is born in that person, his death and his resurrection are repeated. So in that sense, he's still here. It's a wonderful thing to think about. Once the Lord came, he's here. But as pertains to the anointing that's on Christ for ministry, he could not say prophetically the day of vengeance of our God, because it was reserved for a manifestation of Christ in the future. And so Jesus was brought up to the right hand of God, seated at the right hand of God, and we seated with him, according to Ephesians 2.6, we are seated with him at the right hand of God, and he's waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. So the time when his enemies are made his footstool is the day of vengeance of our God. And as in the case of the Jews who knew the scripture, and believed the scripture, there was something like three hundred years after Malachi, when there was no recognized prophet of the level of the Hebrew prophets, something like three hundred years. That's more, that's longer, 1776-1976, that's longer than America has been a nation. So that's a long time between Malachi and Matthew. That's a long time. But the people had the prophets. Well by that time they had suffered from the hand of the Roman Empire and they'd gone through this and the Maccabees and the rest of them, gone through their wars and so on, and there had been no prophet. And so they supposed it would always be like that until Messiah came. And they're still waiting for Messiah to come. Still waiting for Messiah to come. Twenty-three hundred years after Malachi. They're still waiting for Messiah to come. Because when Messiah came, the only people that recognized the time was those to whom Jesus revealed himself, such as Mary, and the two older people who were in prayer, constant prayer, they recognized the Lord's Messiah when he was brought into the temple, the elderly lady and the prophet. They recognized, but 99.9% of the Jews did not have a clue, did not have a clue. And yet, Micah was being fulfilled. The king was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Now he, they moved, went to Egypt and then went back up to Nazareth, but he was born in Bethlehem of Judea. And so, God concealed the fulfillment of Isaiah 61 and the fulfillment of Micah chapter 5, except to those that God chose, as Paul says, a remnant. And he ministered, but he was not known outside of the little provinces of Israel, because the Roman historians don't mention him, with the possible exception of Josephus, which some believe may be not all that scholarly sound as some would wish. So he was not known in Rome. He was not known in the Roman Empire, just in the little 60 miles or whatever it was radius of just jewelry. So this poor man with no possessions, no homes, no camels, no sheep, no goats, just a wandering itinerant rabbi, did his thing according to Isaiah 61. He comforted Israel. He cast out devils. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. But this was God. This was the one on top of Sinai that spoke to Moses. This is God. Yahweh, the Hebrews, the I Am. The Hebrew word Yahweh means I can, will, or may become whatever I can, will, or may become. In other words, Yahweh is the becoming one. He's whatever you want. It's a form of the verb to be. Yahweh. So he abbreviated it. What shall I say your name is? I Am. Not I was or I shall be, although that's mentioned several times in Revelation, I am he who was and I am and will be. But it's enough to know that he is. He is. And so this mighty God came, but people were busy with their lives. They were busy with their lives. They had suffered much under Rome, and many things had transpired, and they were waiting for Messiah to come and be king over the world, which is prophesied. You see, we read it down here. He will stand and shepherd his flock, the strength of the Lord and the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, speaking of Messiah, and they will live securely. For then will his greatness reach the ends of the earth. Well, see, the Old Testament does not make it clear that his coming was in two great parts. It doesn't tell you the times. It's concealed. The Bible, there's a seal on it. There are people who say when the Bible speaks, that's it. When the Bible doesn't speak, nothing. That's not scriptural. The Bible says, as many as are led by the Spirit, not by the Bible, by the Spirit, they are the sons of God. Now, you all know how dedicated I am to the Word, so I think I can say that safely without your thinking that I am in any way diminishing the importance of the written Word of God. I am not. It cannot be changed. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the written Word shall not pass away. But that's not how we're led. We have to hear from God to know the times. And you can memorize the Bible and not know the times. As many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God. Romans 8.14. You can't be led by the Bible. At one place it'll tell you to go, at another place it'll tell you to stay. Well, how do you know whether to go or stay? Well, you don't know whether to go or stay. Obviously, you have to have a relationship with the living Jesus if you know whether to go or to stay. Does that make sense? What the Bible does is we have it as a reference so that if a Spirit tells us to go out and drown ourselves, we know that's not God because from the Bible. It doesn't tell us to do those kinds of things or anything related to it. So the Bible is our way of checking out on what we're hearing in the Spirit realm, what we think God is saying to us. We can check it out. If it's against the Bible, we chuck it out. But you can't say, well, you know, the Bible speaks, we speak, you know. How are you going to do that? You can read your Bible and not hear a thing. So you've got to have a relationship with the living Jesus, what I am. And He is. And He's here. And you can tap into Him if you will take time out from the mad American rush. I think that there's a burden of the Lord today. I usually try to tell you what burden I'm feeling. The Lord is still, the Lord is warning us not to go to sleep. You know, it's easy at Christmas time to go to sleep. Let me tell you something about Christmas time. It's a minefield. You step on the wrong thing and blow yourself up. I'd like it all to be nice and everything. So would I. But it ain't that way. Because the devil doesn't celebrate Christmas for some reason. I don't know why, but he doesn't. So anyway, we were talking, Audrey was talking to our grandson, Cody, David's son. He's about six. What is he, six? Five. Five. Cinco in plain English. Five. And she was talking, the subject of Pokemon came up. Anybody hear of that? And she was asking him about it because she wanted to put in a little word that this isn't exactly cool. And you know what this five-year-old said about his Pokemon cards? Now listen, five years old. He said, they protect me. Five. And when Audrey told me that, I said, the devil knows his business. He sure knows his business. So how many Christian families in our nation today, to make their child happy, are going to buy them Pokemon cards? Why? Because they're not praying. There isn't time to pray. And you're walking through a minefield. And you better follow somebody who knows what not to step on. How many here are your heads going round and round with presents? The wrong presents. Not the P-R-E-S-E-N-C-E, but the P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S. You got the wrong presents. So just leave them for now, because your home probably looks like Toys R Us already. And concentrate on the N-C-E. And then you won't miss the day of your visitation. Okay. We have to be instantly ready in prayer. We've got to call what happened. One of our congregation has problems at four this morning. We've got to be alert, alert in prayer and ready and able to pray and not go back to sleep and say, oh well, you know, it's Christmas. I'm not talking against Christmas, believe me. I'm a great lover of anything that works. The day of vengeance of our God. Alright, now how many see that he interrupted in the middle of a sentence because it wasn't time? So now we'll do the same thing as the Jews. Back to Micah 5. We're going to do the same thing as the Jews. We're looking for Christ to come in a rapture or Christ to come and blow a trumpet or something to happen. Right? Right. Suppose it doesn't come that way. Hmm. What if he sends down an angel like Brian Childers? Gets you off guard, wouldn't it? Huh? Say, this is not an angel because I remember my Valentine cards and they're all little babies with wings. They don't look like that. Brooke, can you live with that? Next time he says he's an angel, Brooke, you can talk. Alright. God is speaking today and as it always is, he who has ears to hear. It doesn't say he that has eyes to see and read. When you read it, it talks about your ears. Those wings on the side of your head. That's what it's talking about. He who has ears to hear. And the only way you can have ears to hear is to slow down and listen. And you say, but Christmas morning. Christmas morning! You think Satan is going to take a holiday? He's not honorable, people. He's not honorable. But he'll catch you when you're not watching. So you don't quit praying just because Christ was born. That's no reason to stop praying. That was a subtle remark, wasn't it? We're back in Micah 5. Here's another one that was interrupted in the middle. You may have noticed. But you Bethlehem F.F. Rapha, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel. That's Messiah. Jesus. Christ. The King. Whose origins are from old, from ancient times. Yeah, really old according to John 1. Way back there. Therefore, now, we're talking about something else in verse 3. Therefore, Israel will be abandoned. Now, Israel has been abandoned for 2,000 years. And it's only since around 1948 that Israel has begun to come back to life. And they're always in jeopardy. As they are today, they're in jeopardy trying to negotiate with Syria, trying to please the United Nations, trying to please America, trying to please everybody except God, as far as you can tell. And I don't blame them. It's easy for us over here to say, Oh, well, why don't you believe God when they've got all these millions and millions of Arabs who want to go over there and commit suicide to drive them into the Mediterranean? So, I'm not criticizing them. Therefore, Israel will be abandoned. And she has been. She has been abandoned and scattered among the nations. Until. Until. Now, we're coming to something, a visitation. We're coming to a point in time. We're coming to something that you're not going to recognize unless you're in prayer. See, that's the problem. We miss these little untils. Until the time when she who is in labor gives birth. Now, isn't that a fine how-do-you-do? Here, Christ comes forth. Then, he abandons Israel. Until something happens. Now, how are we going to know what that is? Well, we have to search the Scriptures. That's the way God's prophets and priests and so on have always done. We stand the Scriptures and see if we can figure out what is talking about she who is in labor gives birth. Because Israel is not going to go very far until she who is in labor gives birth. Now, we've got to figure out what that is. And hopefully from the Scripture. And the rest of his brothers return. Now, who is to be born here? His brothers. His brothers. And like I told you, the purpose of the church era. E-R-A. Church era. Has been to bring forth the body of Christ. That's the purpose of the church era. We've tried to turn it into worldwide evangelism. According to the Scripture, the worldwide evangelism, I mean the real big thing where whole nations come to God. Will take place as soon as the church has been made one with Christ. Says, then the world will believe. Well, as usual, because we're not hearing from God and walking in the flesh. We've got everything upside down. We're trying to do the worldwide revival thing and not worry about she who is bringing forth. And you can see it in the book of Acts. It's so plain. In the book of Acts. That what was going on there was not worldwide salvation. It was the seeking out of the church. The word church. The word. How many have ever heard the word church? It does not refer to a building. People. The word means called out. It means that the brothers will be called out. And so over and over you see in Acts such expressions as. As many as were ordained to life. Believed. Well, who's ordained to life? The brothers. The church. The Lord added to the church. Why do you yell, Brother Thompson? Because if you look in the Bible, whenever they speak from heaven, it's always with a loud voice. You will not find in the Bible where it says there was a soft voice from heaven. You will not find it in there. So if we're going to be heavenly, we speak with a loud voice. All right, that finishes that. We are in the church age. According to the scripture, Isaiah 60 and others. Once these she has brought forth. And the brothers returned to Israel. The glory of God is going to fill the earth. And whole nations are going to come up to Mount Zion and learn from the church. Now, I'll tell you why that's practical. And not just academic. Is because God wants your attention. And my attention. On the birth of Christ within you. On the forming of Christ within you. We love the external. We love to talk about being with Jesus. Or Jesus in the manger. Or Jesus raising from the dead. I'll tell you what Jesus is interested in us talking about today. Is Jesus being formed in you. That's the burden of the hour. And it calls for repentance. And it calls for our turning away from our worldly ways. And getting serious with God. And there's no time to lose. If you will present yourself to God. You will find and mean business with God. Instead of piddling around with church games. And if you get busy and seek God. Really seek God. Not just talk about it. You'll find that your days begin to take on form. You'll no longer be just the grass that grows up today. And tomorrow is cast into the oven as is true of all flesh. Your life will begin to take on form. And you'll begin to notice that God is dealing with you. About things in your life. Now you can blow it off. And think about external things. Like when the Lord comes and raptures you up in your bikini or something. You can think about external things. If you want to. But you're missing the hour of your visitation. The hour of your visitation is now. Now the church is in travail to bring forth the King. And He's coming. He will come in the clouds of glory. Don't misunderstand me. The Lord will come exactly as it says in Revelation 1.7. He will come and every eye will see Him. Don't misunderstand me. But before that He will come in His church. And you can miss it big time. By being occupied. Oh, we have such a perfect word today for it. The trivia of our culture. That's exactly what it is. It's trivia. Our culture named it. And that's what it is. It's trivia. We don't even have great subjects for our art forms. They write a symphony about a bumblebee buzzing around. When it used to be the Miso-Solemnus. And the Requiem Proto-Functus. And other things that exalted God. Exalted the great works of Christ. St. Matthew Passion by Bach. Great subjects. Great music. Now they don't even have a tune to them. Well, that's just a personal... There's big things at stake here. Now look at it here. Until and the rest of His brothers. His brothers have to be born. And the brothers are those who have Christ formed in them. Formed in them. And all the ministries of the church. Whether it's apostles or prophets or evangelists or pastors and teachers and gifts of healing and tongues and everything else. Are for the purpose of forming Christ in His saints. Until we come to the stature of the fullness of Christ. And we're trying to put it all out in the world. That isn't where it belongs. It belongs... The ministry is all given to the church. The evangelists call out the foreordained people. And they come immediately in and they should be ministered to by people. So that Christ... What Christ is waiting for is His enemies to be made His footstool. And that cannot happen until His brothers come up. Make sense? Sure. Brother Thompson never heard anything made more sense than that. And you notice it says the rest of His brothers return to join the Israelites. How many see that? Return. That's why wherever people are living the overcoming life today. The life of victory in Jesus. They immediately get within them an urge. They want to go back to Israel. They want to go back to Jerusalem. They want to go back to the Holy Land. That's why. It's right here in Micah. That's why that urge is in those that are pressing into God. Alright. Now, having said that, let's turn to Isaiah. Itzhak Yahu. And we will look at chapter 66. Where is it? Right here. Alright. Isaiah 66. And we're looking at verses 7 through 9. Of Isaiah 66. Now, remember what we're talking about is knowing the time of your visitation. And let me tell you when it's going to come to you. Alright. Are you ready? I'm going to tell you when it's going to come to you. The time you least expect it. As I said before, it's going to come out when you're out in left field and your team is up to bat. That's when it's going to come. You're completely caught off guard. You've got to be praying. Didn't Jesus say that over and over? Well, what do you think he meant by that? Watch and pray. Alright. Now, we look at Isaiah 66. And just notice for a moment verse 6. I'll start with verse 6. I was going to start with 7. I'm going to start with 6. Hear that uproar from the city? That's people yelling. Hear that uproar from the city? Hear that noise from the temple? That's the human heart. That's the temple of God. In fact, in the first verse in this chapter, he says he's looking for a temple. Alright. It is the sound of the Lord repaying his enemies all they deserve. What does that sound like to you? The day of vengeance of our God. So, that's what we're talking about now is the day of vengeance. We're opening the scroll. The scroll is being opened today and Jesus is continuing with the reading. See, I never thought I'd live to see it. And I hope I retire and die before it happens. Well, it isn't going to happen. It's happening now. So, unless you're retired now, you've got something to do. Before she goes into labor, she gives birth. Is that up there? Some of you are looking at me. It's up there. Alright. That's Jesus. That's the Lord born in a manger. There was no prevail of the church to bring forth Christ. The church did not go into that. Zion did not prevail to bring forth Jesus. All of a sudden, Gabriel appears to Mary. The child is conceived. The child is born and carried to Egypt. There was no prevail of Zion there. That's what this is talking about. Before the pains come upon her, that is upon Zion, upon the church, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? So, we're talking now about a nation being born. And people said this is Israel because it was born when they signed in the UN for Israel to be a nation. Well, Israel and the church run parallel, but every nation is born at once in that sense. We were born when the Constitution signers signed the Constitution. So, that's not impressive. Nevertheless, Israel and the church run parallel and eventually will converge. The physical Israel and the spiritual Israel will run on parallel courses and eventually converge when Messiah comes and the Deliverer comes out of Zion. All right, now. No sooner is Zion in labor. Now we're talking about not before she goes into labor, but as soon as she's in labor. How many see the difference? We're talking about a different child now. We're not talking now about Jesus of Nazareth. We're talking about the brothers. We're talking about the sons of God. Because after all, the creation is not waiting for the revealing of the son of God, but the sons of God. The brothers have to return. Israel will be abandoned until she who prevails brings forth. That's Zion. Now, no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery, says the Lord. Now, what is, the churches will go into labor in our day. Wherever God can find people who are in tune with His program, they will find that they are stressed in their personality. God is dealing with them in a way that has never been before. And there's just nothing to do but just to hold steady and keep praying until God brings forth what He's doing. That's the significant thing in the church today. It's not all these programs. May God bless all the programs and may multiplied millions receive Christ, is my prayer. But the significant thing that is going on is the travail of people who are hearing from the Lord and are passing through the levels of redemption from basic salvation to the infilling of the Spirit and finally to the fullness of God and accepting of God's will instead of their own. This is a process that you go through. It's a process of birth as the King is born in you. What is born in you is the ruler and that's why we have to surrender our will to the Lord because it's the ruler who is being born in us. That's why the issue revolves around the will. See, it revolves around the will. If it would only revolve around some sin, we could pray and get rid of it and the problem would be over. But it doesn't. It revolves around our basic way in which we operate. And God takes it out of our hand because you can't deal with your own self-will. God has to do that. You can deal with sin and worldliness, but you can't deal with your own self-will. That has to be surrendered, not my will but thine be done. And that can be exceedingly difficult if you have idols. Exceedingly difficult. Alright, now, we're in Isaiah. Alright. Now, here's a note of comfort for you. What God has begun in your life, He will finish. If you don't get off the bus, God will finish it. There may be times when you think, I'll never make it. But do you notice what He said? Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery? He says, you're gone. No, He doesn't. Alright, now, a couple of adjacent scriptures that I have alluded to somewhat. One is Romans 8.29. We often hear 8.28 quoted, and that's probably in your promise box at home. Don't trust your promise box. It will lie to you. Romans 8.28. All Christians know that. But not all of them know 8.29. But 8.29 is talking about Micah 5 and Isaiah 66. And Revelation 12 and Galatians 4.19. Alright, now, for those God foreknew. Now, some have said, God foreknew everybody. Well, that doesn't fit the ordinary use of language. It sounds like there's an elect being talked about here. Doesn't it? He doesn't say, God knew everybody. It's grossly undemocratic. I recognize that. Those God foreknew, He also predestined. Now, let me say something about that word predestined. That means that God spoke your destiny in advance. He knows exactly where you're supposed to be in the kingdom. He knows exactly where you're supposed to be in the kingdom. But hear me. Every element of your salvation is an opportunity. Every element of your salvation is an opportunity. None of it is a sovereign act imposed on you in spite of your conduct or your behavior. None of it. I know that is not Christian. I can't help it. It's the truth. It's a contract, salvation is. And God will always keep His part. But you have to keep yours. Because if one member of a contract breaks the contract, the contract becomes invalid. And there are several scriptures that point out when God talks about such things as His breach of promise. For example, as He said to Moses and the Israelites when they were murmuring and complaining at the border of Canaan. God said, you shall know my breach of promise. And again, He said to Eli, the priest. He said, I said that your seed would be a priesthood before me forever. But He said, now far be it from me. And there are other such scriptures. Oh yes. Does God break His word? No. Because every promise of God has a condition. And if you keep your part, God will unfailingly keep His. But if you break the contract, the contract becomes null and void as far as God is concerned. Now there are several instances of that. And there is a good reverend that is writing a book on the problems of eternal security. And every once in a while he emails me when he is troubled about a scripture. And one of them that people throw at him is that a father, once you are a son, a father would never disown his son. Let me tell you something. Not only does the scripture teach what God does with His sons who disobey Him, but it is true even in earthly parents that fathers disown their sons. So that is all a lot of malarkey. And anyway, I thought you would enjoy that. Every yes, predestined, yes. Paul said, I am pressing toward the mark. What mark? The mark of predestination. The mark for which God called him. But Paul said, if I may lay hold on that for which I have been laid hold of. Philippians 3. If I may grasp that for which I have been grasped. Now God has grasped you for something if you are a member of God's elect. I doubt seriously you would be here if you weren't. But you have to grasp that for which you have been grasped. If you do not, when the Lord returns, your talent will be taken from you and you will be put in the outer darkness. Thus saith the Lord. You have to use the talent that God gave you industriously. He wants interest on that thing and if He doesn't get it, you and He are both going to be disappointed. Now that's what the Bible, if I said differently to make you feel happy, I'd be a liar and a false prophet and I should be fired. I'm telling you what God, what the Bible says. Yes, He'll give you a talent. One, five, ten. The more He gives you, the more you're responsible for. There's no such thing as a sovereignly imposed salvation that is not related to your behavior or your response. It does not exist. God always, it's always like the old apostles say, I don't count on there yet, but I'm trying to grasp that for which I've been grasped. Now, if He had to do that at His age and His experience, then what is true of us? Well, what are we predestined to? People say, oh, we're not predestined to be saved because God says God is willing that all should be saved. This isn't even talking about being saved. That doesn't say you're predestined to be saved. That doesn't say God foreknew He predestined to be saved. That doesn't say that. Well, where else would this be if all the teachers of the Bible would read the Bible? Alright, it helps so much if you're teaching the Bible to first read it. It sheds light on the commentaries. Now, He didn't predestine you to be saved, He predestined you to be conformed. Conformed. Conformed. Changed. Changed. Change is painful. We don't like it. And especially if God comes to you, and you've been a Christian for 10, 15, 20 years, and then God begins to speak to you about change, forget it. What I am is good enough for my grandmother, and it's good enough for my mother, it's good enough for me. Death. If you're going to be one of these brothers, you're going to have to be changed. Or do you like yourself the way you are? Well, if you do, don't bother me. It's too difficult. God was evidently not very pleased with me because He's been working on me a long time. Oh yes. And it's been very painful. Oh, hallelujah. But I wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China. And you're not just predestined to be changed, but you're destined to be changed into the very image of Jesus. You say, that's too high, I can't do it. Well, then go ahead and die in your unbelief. But this is what God said. Well, I can believe the cross, but I can't believe any more than that. Well, take hold of yourself. And stretch your belief. Believe. If God didn't say it, it would be nonsense. And you say, well, kind of in His image. God didn't say predestined to be kind of in His image. Kind of. Somewhat. We know we could never be like Him. Well, then make God out a liar. A loud voice is from heaven. Alright. That He might be. Ha-ha. Ta-da. What? Firstborn. Now, we know that God gave His only begotten Son. John 3.16. His only begotten Son. Right? But now we see something happened arithmetically in terms of the ordinality of numbers. Ha-ha. He's the firstborn. Wow! Whoa! Woo! Ha-ha. Of many. Ta-da. Brothers. That's the meaning of the church era. He was born in Bethlehem of Judea, but He had to abandon His brothers, the Jews, and how He longs to get back to them. But first of all, the church must prevail and bring forth. She prevails through the ministries. Galatians 4.19. Isn't this wonderful? I can just say, Galatians 4.19. Galatians 4.19. Pretty soon we have Galatians 4.19. Now, they're doing the best they can up there. You try it sometime. You won't know how to turn on the computer. Alright, now. My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth. Now, who was travailing here? Paul. See, Zion representing the church. He's in travail. The reason He was doing all this is because the Galatians were being taught to go back under the law of Moses. And Paul knew, if they would yield to that teaching, then something was true about them. What do you suppose it was? It's a logical question. Christ hadn't been formed in them. Because when Christ is formed in you, you will not, people will not be able to come along and lead you astray. Because that spirit of truth in you, when John said, He that is in you is greater than he in the world. He's not talking about power. First John. Read the context. He's talking about truth. Truth. And so Paul says, My little children of whom I travail. And again in 2.20 he says, I am crucified with Christ. Same book. Nevertheless I live, but it's not I, but Christ who is living in me. People. It's the hour of His visitation. There's a voice of war coming from the temple. It's coming in through the minstrels. The voice of war. Who is the army of the Lord? The Lord shall utter His voice before His army. Jesus has been waiting for 2,000 years until His army could be formed. And then He can open the scroll and read on. And this day the scripture is fulfilled in your ears. The day of vengeance of our God. And it all depends on the willingness of you and me to lay aside the busy, busy elements of our lives and our culture and to pay attention to what God is doing in our personality. It may be painful for a while, but the mothers who have given birth to children know it only lasts for so long. And then there's joy because a man is born into the world. That's taken from John chapter 16 and Jesus was talking about the fact that we would see Him and then not see Him and then see Him again because He's been born in us. And that's the greatest Christmas present you can give God and your fellow man. Shall we stand? Hallelujah. I don't yell at you because I don't love you, but because I do. I'm not trying to get you to love me. I'm content with loving you and that's why I yell at you and so that you'll get for your benefit so you won't miss the day of your visitation. Jesus, we thank you, Lord. The Lord wants those who are all immersed in things and have forgotten Him for just a little bit to come forward now and pray. That is what God is saying right now. If you've forgotten to pray and you're pretty well mixed up with the world and everything and what I've said this morning seems a little far out, God wants you to come forward now. There's no time to waste. That's what God is saying. You do not know what tomorrow will bring. Now, if you need to come, God is saying come now. Lord, I'm saying what you're saying to me and nobody's moving. That's strange. Well, amen. Hallelujah. Maybe we need Stan to come play some music. Would that help? I'll repeat it again. The Lord is saying those who are all immersed in the world right now, dizzy, minds on the world, He wants you to come and not leave this church until you get yourself reestablished in your mind on the Lord. Hallelujah. That's what He's saying. I'm telling you faithfully what God is saying. And I trust these three at the altar are the ones God is talking about. Hallelujah. One soul is worth more than the universe. Father, we just come unto You this morning now with praise and thanksgiving. And Lord, we don't want to miss the hour of our visitation. Lord, we don't want to miss that. Lord, and if we're all stuck with the glue of the world and are depressed and our mind is not clear and we're heavy this day, God help us. God help us and work with us and do whatever is necessary, Lord, to get us unstuck, I pray, that we will be people who are praising You, worshiping You, loving You, Lord. Let this season be a good season and a time of joy and fun for the children. But help us who are adults, Lord, to be watching, watching in prayer, watching in prayer, ceaselessly watching in prayer and not moved by our culture, by the antics of our culture, Lord. Make it a joyous, happy time for the children, Lord. But help us, as You said, the young men, be strong and overcome the world and the older men because we know Christ. Hallelujah. Lord, help us to act our age and not become children at this time of year, but rather to look to our children and keep them safe as we surround them with prayer and a holy life. I ask that for us, Lord. Keep us during this season, Lord, when so many abandon themselves to the flesh. Keep us with our mind on our business. In Jesus' name, I thank You, Lord. Amen.