All right, and the children are being dismissed to the children's church. They're working on a children's program with some children's songs and Christmas, and they'll take about 10 or 15 minutes in service on the 22nd, the Sunday before Christmas. On that Sunday morning, the children are gonna be coming in and we'll have them a part where they'll be saying some scripture verses and singing some Christmas carols as well, and they'll always enjoy. their opportunity to be able to take part in the Christmas story. And so as they are dismissed, I also want to mention as well, on Sunday mornings, here the last few weeks, we've had a group that have been coming and we're doing a Spanish service in the back that is being translated from Spanish into Creole, and several who have trusted Christ as their Savior in the Spanish ministry and the Creole ministry over the last couple months. And so Pastor Mion has been able to do that, and it's a little easier translating in just once instead of three times, from English to Spanish, from Spanish to Creole. But we are thankful that the Lord has given us that opportunity for that ministry. If you'll continue to pray for that, that we'll see fruit as those accept Christ as their Savior and grow in the word of God. And so if you speak Spanish today and you'd like to take part in that, there'll be a meeting in the back of Fireside Room just now. All right, I'm just thinking about as we start out here before we take our passage of scripture, just thinking about Christmas season. I enjoy the opportunity to be able to preach Christmas sermons. And so we're taking a break from the gospel of Luke, and we're gonna over the next couple Sundays, we have a Christmas program obviously on the 15th, but to go through some Christmas passages and just draw our attention to the Christmas story through the scripture, And the Lord has brought me to a very unique place in the scripture that we see the Christmas story being told out. And interesting enough, it follows very well from what we talked about last week in the Gospel of Luke. If you didn't get to the Gospel of Luke last week and you weren't here, Jesus told a parable, the last parable in the Gospels. And Jesus' parable, as he enters into the temple, And he's there in front of the religious leaders. He is being challenged by what authority he has to come in and do these things. And before Jesus marches out into the Mount of Olives to give the Olivet Discourse on that Tuesday of the Passion Week, then he'll go and take the Last Supper with the disciples. Jesus gives a parable in a public, in a confrontation with the religious leaders. And in that parable, Jesus gives the story of the whole scripture. He starts in Genesis and goes all the way to the book of Revelation. And he gives what God is doing in the plan of history, what he's doing with the nation of Israel, what he's doing with his son, and what the purpose and the redemption that has happened. And he gives in that parable a snapshot of the whole Bible in one sermon, and if you were going to take someone to give them a picture of what God is doing from Genesis to Revelation in one passage of Scripture, I mentioned to you there were two places that you could go to. Last week, we went to Luke chapter 20. And this week, we're going to go to the second place. But before we do that, I wonder how many have a manger scene in your home or outside of your home? Raise your hand here. All right, that's part of your Christmas decoration. Oftentimes, many people, the Christmas decoration. We went to one of our deacon's houses many years ago, and one of the games that he had for the kids when we were at the Christmas time at a Christmas party is he wanted the kids to go around his house and count all of the different manger scenes that he had in his house. And I believe they counted over 10 of them individually they had set. He had a big one set up on a dresser. He had little ones that were hanging from the Christmas tree. One that was underneath. He had one in his dining room and one in his bedroom. And he had the kids kind of go around and then he had a prize. for how many manger scenes they could find. This is part of a Christmas season. When I went to the Galaxy of Lights and several of these light demonstrations and shows, you know, they're showing the pictures of Rudolph and showing the lights of Snowman and showing, you know, the icicles and the snow things and all of those different lights. But you know what? Christmas is about Jesus. And Christmas is about the manger of what we would see where Jesus came to Bethlehem and he was born in a manger and became God incarnate, God with us. And that's what the Christmas season is about. So I'm always kind of looking for the manger scene in some of those public displays. And oftentimes in the last 20 years the Christmas manger scene has been a very divisive and decoration, if you want to say it this way, because of a display of the separation of church and state. Can you put one in the Capitol building? If you put one, you got to put them all. And even in Chicago, you remember a few years ago, there was an outcry of the fact that you had to be equal to all religions. So next to the manger scene in the Capitol building in Illinois, there was an occultic manger scene with a devil in the manger. And what a... blasphemous thing that was done there and it lasted just a year or two until it was eventually taken out and thank God it was. But as we see about that, what is in a typical manger scene? We have what we would see as a decoration on the memorial table here. of the typical characters that would be in a manger scene. You oftentimes have the stable, but obviously you gotta have something, a roof over their head, all right, so they don't get snow on them or rain on them, cover up. Then you have Joseph and Mary, the classic pieces, the manger itself, the baby Jesus. And then you have, sometimes you have the camels and the animals that would be typified that are there. Some people have the wise men that are situated in the manger scene with the three different gifts that are represented. You oftentimes, some of them will have a star or maybe like we did when we were, we would situate a light that would be in the back of the manger scene so it would light up and the star that would be connected. Some have an angel, I remember as a kid we had several angels, maybe Gabriel in the scene, and shepherds as well, and all of those different things. And sometimes if your house was a little bit like our house with a bunch of kids and little boys, sometimes there's things that end up in your manger scene that don't belong in your manger scene. All right, like G.I. Joes. They always ended, they were all about the same size. And so G.I. Joes and, you know, sometimes we, I remember my long ranger horse and would be in there with the camels and some of the other animals. And maybe I saw somebody had a manger scene the other day and had a Yoda in there that was, You've seen all kinds of different things that don't belong in the manger scene. Robots, and cars, and Legos, and snowmen, and Santa Claus, and elves, and Yodas, and G.I. Joe. They don't belong in the manger scene. Kids are just kind of playing around, and we used to play with the characters, and then they'd break, and we'd have to glue them back. We had some characters have been glued back three or four different times at Christmas because we just, you know, weren't taking care of them. I use all of that because I want to ask, What is not in your manger scene that should be? And I believe there are two things that the scriptures indicate that should be in your manger scene but are not found in a manger scene. And there's a good possibly reason why you wouldn't find it in a manger scene. But where we find, interesting enough, these two items is not in a gospel. It's in the book of Revelation. Take your Bibles and turn with me to Revelation chapter 12. We're going to read Revelation chapter 12, and then I'm going to tell you on this story two characters that are in your manger scene, and two items that are not in your manger scene at home, but should be. In Revelation chapter 12, let me read the 17 verses here because We're not often in Revelation, and to get a whole picture of the passage here to understand, in Revelation chapter 12, the Bible says, And there appeared a great wonder, or a great sign, in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another sign, or wonder, in heaven. And behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and it cast him to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world, he hath cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out within. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, and has accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the power of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, or their witness, and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, in ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he hath but a little time. Short time. When the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman. and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the witness or the testimony of Jesus Christ." And may God add His blessing to the reading of His Word. This is the book of Revelation, and this is not a typical place where you would see a manger scene, or you would go to read the Christmas story. But in fact, right here in the middle of this book, in chapter 12, we have the story of Christmas. In fact, the whole chapter is telling us the history of the war, the world, and the war that is going on and that has been going on since Genesis chapter 3. And what John is seeing here is, in fact, this is one of three divine pauses in the chronology of the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 11 ended with the seventh trumpet that is being blown. And when the seventh trumpet blows, John says he sees the kingdom and people singing of the kingdom of heaven and the coming Messiah who is short to come, in chapter 11. And so, as he sees this, but what happens is, in verse 12, in chapter 12, there is a pause in the Revelation, and there's a step back. And this happens a couple of times throughout the book of Revelation. That as he's telling the story, God pushes a pause button on the future events. John is seeing the future and what's happening in the tribulation, and what's happening with the Antichrist, and the worldwide government, and this world, and then he sees the seven seals, and then the seven trumpet judgments, and then he'll see the seven bowls that will come later in the book of Revelation. And as he sees these over a period of seven and a half years, two times of three and a half, as mentioned in this passage as well, that that is given the timetable, of what is happening at the end time. But during this telling, God will stop with John's vision of the future, and he'll push pause on the future events, and he'll step back and give John a bigger picture. Sometimes that picture is of the throne of God in heaven, and sometimes that picture is of the overall battle that has been going on, and what's going on behind the scenes. We would say Revelation 12 may be from the devil's perspective. We step back and we look through the eyes of the devil and we see this story of history and how it's played out from Genesis to Revelation in chapter 12. And he gives us the story. And this is placed here because this helps us to understand what is happening in the sequence of the future events. of the Tribulation. What is going on? Why are we seeing these judgments? Why are we seeing this nation? Why are we seeing the 144,000 being separated? Why are we seeing the two witnesses? Why are we seeing the Antichrist and this worship and this false prophet and all of these different things? Well, chapter 12 steps back and gives you a big picture of what God has been doing so that you get a good perspective as you continue to read throughout the rest of the book of Revelation. There's so much confusion over this book and dealing with it and so much misunderstanding. But John has received this revelation of the future things while on the Isle of Patmos. He is watching these things unfold as a man is looking in on a crime scene as it's happening and it's taking place. He sees all the horror and the death and the rejection and the destruction and the sorrow that awaits the world without Jesus who has rejected him. He also sees the suffering and the persecution. He sees the martyrdom of millions of saints who have stood for God and rejected the Antichrist. He also sees joy and rejoicing and singing and praises and honor around the throne of God. And this fills John's heart a multiple times with so much emotion because he sees terrible things. He sees wonderful things all at the same time that he's so overcome by the emotions of what he's seeing, he can't handle it and he breaks down several times. And an angel actually has to help him up. We sure want to see what John saw, but I think that if we saw exactly what John saw in the way he saw it in this vision, and we saw it in a fashion not in an apocalyptic language as John writes, but in his actual vision of what he saw, we would have the same reaction. Now remember, this is a man who saw Jesus walk on water. This is a man who saw Jesus cast out a legion of demons. This is a man who saw Jesus resurrected from the grave, and pass through walls, and eat, and do the things that Jesus had done. And yet what he sees in this vision on the Isle of Patmos overcomes him with so much emotion, and fear, and respect, and awe, that there are times that he has trouble even describing what he sees. Now when we come to this, I want to see just, we're talking about the Christmas story, we're talking about the manger scene. And I want to draw your attention to two characters in this manger scene that we see and you have in yours, we have in our service today. And then I want to draw your attention to two items that are introduced in Revelation 12 that are not typically seen in Luke 2 or Matthew 1. First of all, we see two characters. We see, first of all, the woman. You see that in verse 1? And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman. And then there's a description. Now the word great wonder in the King James here, the authorized version, it means a sign. It is a symbol. It's used seven times in the book of Revelation, and it is always pointing us to something else that it is representing. Chapter 13 and verse 13, chapter 15 and verse 1, chapter 16 and verse 14, chapter 19 and verse 20. are the word sign or wonder is used. It is pointing to an object to help us to understand in a symbolic fashion. This is a symbol of something else. It represents someone or someone else. Here this sign that he sees is the first sign he sees is a sign of a woman. Now there are four women in the book of Revelation. They all are represented of something else. The first woman is mentioned in chapter 2 and verse 20, the woman Jezebel. And there John actually takes an Old Testament character and represents a woman within the church who was bringing division and divisiveness and false teaching within a church. And he picks out an Old Testament character and connects it. Was her name actually Jezebel? We don't know, probably not. But he connects that to an Old Testament character that was fairly bad. Not many girls are named Jezebel today. There's a good reason for that. But it was a name to connect you to a certain character in the story. In chapter 17 and verse 4, there is another woman and her identity is a harlot. In that passage in chapter 17, we're introduced to a harlot. And this harlot is a representation of the false religion during the time of the tribulation that is led by the false prophet. Some have identified that with several different religious organizations, a mix between Islam and Catholicism. At one time they believed that this was the Catholic Church and it would be, and others. I believe specifically the great harlot that is seen in Revelation 17 is one day a future worldwide religion that is led by the Antichrist and his false prophet to cause all people to believe a lie and go against the truth of God's Word, whatever that religion takes place or in what shape it takes place of. But it is called a harlot. Then in chapter 19 and verse 7, when Jesus comes back, he comes back with the bride of Christ. That's the third woman mentioned in the book of Revelation. And that is the bride and the marriage supper of the Lamb that will take place between Jesus and his bride. And I believe we connect that with the church that is seen in the book of Revelation but is not seen from chapter 1 and 2 and 3 and then skipped over until chapter 19. There it appears. The fourth woman mentioned in the book of Revelation is the one that we see right here. And notice her description. Her description very similarly follows the dream of Joseph in Genesis 37. She is clothed with the sun and the moon and the stars. And there are 12 stars on her head like a crown. It's almost like she's glowing at night like a nightlight. And it's a beautiful picture and a description of this woman that is clothed with things like the sun and the moon and a crown on her head and the crown are of 12 stars. This is clearly seen in a biblical connection to the nation of Israel. Several times in the Old Testament the nation of Israel is connected to the sun, moon and stars as I already mentioned in Genesis 37. This woman is not the church. The church has never said to specifically be a woman, but a bride. And the church didn't give birth to the child who is mentioned here. In fact, the child gave birth to the church. It's the other way around, but not in this story. So you can't identify the woman with the church. The identification of the woman is seen not by the sun, moon, and stars, but by the child that she bears. Who is the child she bears? I get ahead of myself here, but the child that she bears is none other than Christ, the Messiah that is explained for us in verse 5. The child is identified as the Son of God, Christ the Messiah who would come into this world. So then we know the identity of the woman by knowing the identity of the child. That's the first sign and wonder in this vision that she sees here. And can I say from this passage of Scripture, this woman has two identities. She is both a person and a group of people. She is the person of Mary. Because it is through Mary that the Christ child was born. We have in our manger scene today, the Virgin Mary. It is Mary by which the one who gives birth to this Christ, to this Messiah. But the scripture also indicates that it is also through Mary that she represents the whole nation of Israel. Because the promise goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 12. That it is out of the seed of Abraham that the Son would come into this world. Out of the seed of David. Out of the seed of the woman, Genesis 3, verse 15. Out of the nation of Israel would come the Messiah. Romans chapter 9 and verse 4 and 5, Paul actually says this, Out of the nation of Israel, of whom concerning the flesh, Christ came who is over all. And in that passage in Romans 9, he's talking about the nation of Israel. It is out of the nation of Israel that the Christ came into this world. By the flesh, Jesus was of the tribe of Judah from David, from David to Abraham. And that connection is all throughout the scripture that Jesus would come from the Jewish family. And it was through this Jewish family that he would bless all nations. Canada gave birth to the greatest hockey player in human history, Wayne Gretzky. Britain gave birth to one of the greatest composers of music ever, George Frederick Handel. Greece gave birth to one of the greatest military leaders of all the world, Alexander the Great. And America gave birth to one of the greatest political leaders and military leaders, George Washington. But Israel gave birth to the greatest person to have ever lived, Jesus of Nazareth. So within this manger scene, we see the character of, yes, Mary, but in Mary, a representation of the whole nation of Israel. And this is where the conflict that takes place. Notice that what is going on in this description in verse 2. And she is being with child, she cried out, travailing in birth, and paying to be delivered. We see a woman who is expecting a child. And in this expectation of this child that is coming, there is sorrow, there is pain, there is suffering that is taking place. And I want you to understand, as we look back at the Old Testament, from Genesis chapter 12, actually Genesis 3, but we can go from Genesis 12, all the way to the book of Malachi, the promise of the Messiah was going to come through the nation of Israel. That's why God stressed the importance of the nation of Israel, keeping to themselves, being careful, with their marriages, being careful with their idol worship, being careful with their temple sacrifices, being careful with the Canaanite tribes that were around them, because this was his peculiar people and he had a plan that through this bloodline the Messiah would come into this world to save the world from their sin through the nation of Israel as a light to the Gentiles. And all throughout the Old Testament, we have this conflict, and we have this battle, and the Jewish people are being fought against over and over and over again throughout the Old Testament, trying to wipe them off the face of the earth. Whether it was Nebuchadnezzar, or Sennacherib, or Pharaoh, or it was Antiochus, or whoever it was throughout the Old Testament, you find there's constantly a threat. Why? Because the woman is being attacked, not for who she is, but for who she's carrying. The attack upon the woman is because of the son that she will have. And we see that throughout the Old Testament. And we have here in a nutshell a little bit of picture of what is going on in the Old Testament. We have the nation of Israel that is being protected by God, but being attacked by God because of the seed of the woman that is going to come through her to bless all nations until eventually it finds itself in a little home in Nazareth with a teenage young lady. named Mary, who is now conceived by the Holy Ghost and is carrying within her womb the Son of God and the Messiah. So as we see this and we see this story unfolding before us, we see a conflict between the woman with the child and another character in this story. Can we look at the child as well? Look at verse 2, and the Bible says, and being with child she cries, And then later on in verse, let's see what verse it is, would be the woman who carried her in her place, the one with the child in verse 13, when the dragon saw that he was cast out, the woman which brought forth the man-child. So you have here, in this story, you have another character that is in our manger scene, and it is none other than the child in the manger. The one in the stable, the whole story of Christmas revolves around not Mary and Joseph, they are characters by which God, instruments by which God uses to bring about His Son, but ultimately the main character in all of this story that hinges in all of human history is that Christ child that was born in that lowly stable, where there was no room found for Him in the inn, but instead He was born in the place of the animals and the donkeys. The camels where shepherds would come and see Him. And here in this passage of scripture you have the process of her giving birth to this child and the identity of the child in verse 5. And she brought forth a man-child, a son. who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was then caught up unto God and to His throne. And then the woman fled into the wilderness. What we are seeing here in verse 5 is we are seeing the gospel narrative of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Finally, she brought forth her firstborn son. and wrapped him in swaddling clothes. The same exact phrase that is used of Luke is used here of John in Revelation chapter 2. She gave birth and held this man-child, this son of promise in her arms. And there he was. This is the scripture. Notice it came through pain and sorrow and suffering. Multiple times in this story, John sees this conflict of the birth of this child. That He came through suffering and through pain, childbirth. Now we know that this child is not, again, a representation of the church. Because here John uses the masculine use of the noun, a man-child, a son-born. If John had intended this symbolism to represent the church itself, then he would have used a feminine noun, because ekklesia in the Greek is a feminine noun. The church would have been connected. But he specifically doesn't bring that connection. Instead, he uses a masculine noun telling us this is not the church, but an individual, none other than Jesus himself. And I say that because that's where oftentimes misinterpretations of some of these symbols come into play by making a representation for hundreds and hundreds of years, misrepresenting something in the book of Revelation to represent something completely different. The text points us that this child is none other than Jesus Christ. You see, listen, there is no Christmas without Jesus. Jesus is, you've heard the phrase, the slogan, Jesus is the reason for the season. You can't have a Christmas time. It's not about Santa Claus. It's not about Christmas trees. It's not about Rudolph and red-nosed reindeer. It's not about the giving of gifts necessarily. It's about Jesus Christ who came into this world and was born in a manger so that he could suffer, bleed, and die for our sins. Christmas stories about John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And here He is, Revelation 12 and verse 5. The man-child, the Son, who was brought forth. This reminds me of Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4. And in the fullness of time, when the fullness of time was come, God brought forth His Son, born of a woman. made under the law so that he might redeem them who are under the law. You see, John and Jesus and Paul all saw the same thing. The coming of this son into the world to rescue man from his sin. So we have the woman. That is both an individual and a group. That is both a person and representative of a nation. And within Mary herself, she represented the whole nation as the Son of God would come through her and through the nation of Israel. There she would bring forth this Son and raise Him so that this Son, Jesus Christ, the Child who was born in this manger scene, right here in Revelation chapter 12. Those are the two things that you would typically have in every manger scene. But what are the two things that you don't see in a manger scene? Well, let's read the next character in verse 3. And there appeared another wonder and sign in heaven. Behold, a red dragon. Notice the description. having seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns upon his head. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast him to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was getting ready to have birth." Why? For the purpose to gobble him up. to devour him as soon as it was born. So a character that you would not normally see in your manger scene is a red dragon, right? Now, if you go shopping at Hobby Lobby and you were looking for your decorations to put out underneath your Christmas tree, you would probably find something like this. But if you were looking down and you saw standing next to Mary was this red dragon character, you would say, that's out of place. I mean, I would scare all of my kids. Talk about telling them there's no such thing as Santa Claus. Why don't you pull out something like this and put it in your manger scene? You don't find this in Luke 2. You don't find this in Matthew 2, but you find it in Revelation 12. So standing there at the birth of Jesus Christ, John says, while the woman was giving birth, there stood before her, waiting for that child to be born, a monster. That's what the word dragon means. It's actually translated in the Old Testament as sea monster or land monster. To give us a description about what this character looks like, John goes into detail. And I believe he mentions this word dragon eight times. The word child is mentioned three, the word mother, I think, is mentioned, or woman, is mentioned five or six times. But eight times in this chapter, you see the dragon. Plus, if you notice, you were reading through the scripture, he's also called the serpent. And there's no doubt who the dragon is, because John says, oh, I'm just gonna come right out and tell you who he is. Look at verse nine. and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent." Well, who's the serpent? You go from a symbol to another symbol. John, just tell us who it is. You know that old serpent? The devil and Satan. The one who deceives the whole world. I think one of the last characters that you'd want to put out in your manger scene is the devil himself. And if he was ever to take on a form, John is the only one that records for us. He's a dragon. And interesting, this is the only place in all of Scripture where he's given a color. Now I know in Isaiah, I believe it is, he's given some colors as far as Lucifer himself. But one says a fallen angel and one says this devil and serpent. He has given the color red. He is a red. Dragon, a great red dragon. John uses the word great here, showing us the importance, the significance, he's strong, he's powerful, he's able to deceive the whole world. He is described as intensely cruel, harsh, scary, dangerous, a hideous monster. The color indicating blood and red, indicating danger and murder. You have the seven heads and the ten horns that are described over its head. And as all of those have symbols that are connected earlier in the scripture, talking about the kingdoms and the kings and the powers. This all goes back to Daniel's dream and Daniel's vision. This goes back to our connection of this dragon who's coming out of the sea in Revelation 13, who is the Antichrist who's controlled by Satan himself. And the crowns of authority and power as this dragon will rule the world. And his tail has already drawn away a third of the angels in heaven, showing us a terrible event that took place in the past. And now here you have a dragon that is mentioned. There are two other characters in the Bible that were called dragons. The two other individuals in the Old Testament. Pharaoh is called in the Psalms a dragon. And Nebuchadnezzar is called in the Old Testament a dragon. The only other character that is called a dragon as far as an individual or for a person is the devil here in Revelation 12. And here you have at this manger scene, you have none other than the devil himself. And what is he doing? He's standing over the child with his mouth open, with blood dripping from his teeth, ready to kill him. This shows to us that Satan has been ready to kill this baby Jesus ever since the beginning of time. or the beginning of Genesis 3 when sin entered into this world and when the promise was passed on. The battle of Satan is against this child and this is a reference, possibly some have indicated this could be a reference to Herod's attempt to kill the baby as soon as he was born as he had already given the proclamation that all of the children in Bethlehem, all of the baby boys in Bethlehem would be killed. This verse answers for us in verse 5, the child who was caught up to heaven. Interesting, look down at the verse. The Bible says, and she brought forth this man-child who was to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto God and to His throne. In this one verse, we go from the manger scene in Bethlehem to Acts chapter 1, where he's floating up into the clouds before the disciples. 33 years is skipped over in this verse. Nothing is said about him walking on water, or feeding the poor, or causing the lame to leap. Nothing in here talks about his crucifixion, his death on the cross, his burial in the grave, and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. You know what John sees? John sees the baby's born. The devil is there to attack him and kill him. And the next thing you know, he's ascending up into heaven to sit at the right hand of the throne of God. To John, he says, all of the stuff that happened in the Gospels, which we are reading and studying about, it's not that they're not important. But John is jumping to the end of the story and he says, the battle between the devil and this child in the end, Jesus wins. That's the bottom line of it. He lives 33 and a half years. He proves himself that he is the Son of God and has power over all things, including death and the devil himself. And by the way, would you know, as soon as he was born, he was being caught up to God up in heaven. There to be delivered and to stand as the rightful ruler over all the world. Because this entire scene here is the scene of a battle. This battle has been raging since the beginning of time. Since Satan lifted himself up against God and rebelled and cast from heaven from pride. This battle has been raging since the serpent deceived Eve, the first woman into sand. This battle has been raging since Egypt tried to keep in bondage Israel. Since Satan attempted to destroy. David through Saul, since Nebuchadnezzar sent to destroy Jerusalem by burning it to the ground and by killing the Jews. The battle is between the battle of Satan and his forces, and Jesus and his righteousness, and in the end, Jesus wins. Look at verse 6, the scripture says, And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place that had been prepared for God, and they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. You see, since Satan could not win against the Christ child, he had to turn his attention towards the woman. And who is the woman again? The nation of Israel. You see, he cannot destroy the Son, so what he would like to destroy is the one by which the Son came through. And so, since that day, there has been an obvious attempt to wipe the nation of Israel off the face of the earth. And this is what we see when we come to the end times under the ruler of the Antichrist. What he will attempt to do through the power of that red dragon is he will attempt to wipe out the greatest holocaust that has ever happened. All of the Jews. And he will attempt, and he will bring a coalition of nations from around the world, north, south, east, and west, and they will march upon this small little area, upon this land. And John is seeing a large picture back, and he said, it's always been happening. It happened in the Old Testament. It happened under the time of the Gentiles. And one day in the future it will happen again, that they will attempt, the dragon will attempt to kill the woman. That's why there is so much hatred towards the Jewish people today. Not because they're Jews, not because they have a temple, not because necessarily they have a land in and of itself. There is a reason behind it. The reason the Jews are so hated is because of this story in Revelation chapter 12. It is because of through them came Jesus who saved the world from their sins. And one day he's coming back. You know, some people, going back to Hitler and going back to all these different nations of the world, trying to understand why is there so much anti-Semitism. Is it because they control the diamond population? Because they control the banks? There's been all kinds of attempts to try and understand anti-Semitism. It's not about skin color. It's not even necessarily about religion. It's about Jesus and Jesus Christ. And that the end of the story is that Christ is one day coming back and he will march into that future temple and he will set himself up as king of all the world. And mankind does not like that. Neither does the devil and he's the one behind it all. Can I remind you today that we are in a battle with the devil? And even though in this passage I don't believe we see the church, The church doesn't show up till Revelation 19 again, who comes back as rulers. But right now we live in the times of the Gentiles. And now we have been passed on to us. The king has been opened. His kingdom, the opportunity for us who were once aliens and strangers, has now been given the opportunity, as we learned last week, to now accept the Son and become part of what God's plan is for human history. And because we've been engrafted in the promise that God has given in the new covenant and to his people, now we as a church in this age, we carry the light. And because of that, that same red dragon has it out for you. Do you know how to defeat him? Well, there's a verse right here in the middle of this passage that tells us how to defeat him. Look at verse 11. And they, talking about those during the tribulation, are going to overcome the dragon. How? By the blood of the Lamb. Do you know how to fight the dragon and the devil today? You remind him that you're under the blood of Jesus Christ. And that you don't have to fear him because he can't take you to hell with him. because you're covered under the blood of Jesus Christ and you have an advocate that stands between you and God and shows his hands and shows his side and shows his feet and said, these are mine, get away. You can't accuse them anymore because these are my children, these are my people. That's how you defeat the devil. The first of all, second thing here is by the word of their witness. Do you know how to defeat the devil? The light that you have of Jesus Christ that is in you, let it out. Share it with others around you. Give the testimony of Jesus Christ that is in your life. Don't cower down and hold yourself up in a closet and in a bedroom. Pull out the Word of God as a lamp unto your feet. Read it. Let it shine into your life. And then go out and shine the light of Jesus Christ and show the world your good works so that they may glorify God which is in heaven. That's how we defeat the devil. That's how they defeat the devil in the tribulation, is by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the witness and the testimony that they are His. And then notice as it says here last, and they loved not their lives unto the death. By your sacrifice, by your commitment to Jesus. Now in the tribulation time, those who have been left behind because they won't trust Christ until later in the tribulation, they will be martyred for their faith. We will be raptured out of here before that time period happens, but they will stand before an Antichrist, and they'll have to refuse the mark of the beast, and they'll have to go into hiding, they'll have to experience a lot of the trouble and the tribulation that is going to take place during that, and many of them will die for their faith. In fact, later on in the book of Revelation, there will be a number of people under the altar who will cry out and say, Lord, how long? And that number will be thousands upon thousands who will be martyred during the tribulation by the Antichrist. Why? Because they did not love themselves, they loved their Lord. That's how you defeat the devil. It's the love that you have for Jesus Christ is more powerful than the love you have for this world. or for the things of this world, or for yourself, or even your family, you're willing to stand and say, Lord, I'll lay down my cross, I'll drop it all off into your hands. The Bible says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Our enemy is alive and well, and in your manger scene, you may want to buy a dragon, and stick it in there and remind you of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ came into this world on your behalf. And the ongoing battle that we are raging against the devil and remember we're on the winning side. And in our manger scene we must be reminded that we have an enemy. who would love nothing more than destroy our life as he sought to destroy the life of the Son of God. Now that's the one item that is probably not in your manger scene, that you probably should have it in your manger scene. Another one is in this passage of Scriptures by inference. And I put it in here, you don't have to be necessarily dogmatic, I believe we can be dogmatic about the dragon. but as a time clock. And we find this in the passage of Scripture later on, down in verse 12. Would you read this with me? Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea. Woe. That's a strong warning. For the devil is come unto you having great wrath, because, what does he know? He knows his time is short. I think a good thing that we could put in our manger scenes is a time clock, an hourglass, to remind us that God's time is ticking. And it has been ticking since Genesis chapter 3. And everything that has fallen in place has fallen because of God's predetermined clock that is ticking. And the devil looks over his shoulder and he sees that clock that is ticking and he knows his time is brief. I want to remind you today too, your time is brief. There hangs over us A constant ticking that one day the events of the future will take place. The judgment of God will come and the devil's hour is short. So short that John passes over 33 years of Jesus's ministry as if it was just like that. And now we've come 2024 years later and that time clock is still ticking by. And that time is cut short. Notice there's time reference in this chapter. Times, time, and time and a half. Three and one half years. A thousand and two hundred days. There's a constant reminder in this chapter that time is ticking on and one day the sands of time will stop. And God's calendar and clock will ding. And when it dings, Jesus will be standing there all alone, by himself, along with the group of his people, but he will be the ultimate victor and the devil will lose. And at the end, I'll take part in kicking him into the lake of fire. And that's where this history is headed. That's where this story is headed. No matter how many times He attempts to wipe out the nation of Israel. No matter how many times He attempted to wipe out the Son. No matter how many times He attempts to wipe out God's church and God's people. In the end, we will stand and in Revelation chapter 19, here comes Jesus on His white horse and all those with Him will come back and the devil's time will be over. The scripture continues to remind us that that time clock is ticking. And John says in verse 12, woe to those who are not ready. Are you ready? I make reference again to this passage of scripture in Galatians chapter four in verse four. When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son. And when the fullness of time and those sands click out, and that one final piece drops, God the Father will look to His Son and say, go wrap it up. Go wrap it up. Now I want to ask you this morning, what side will you be on? In your manger scene, you've got characters that belong. You probably, like children, have characters in your manger scene that don't belong. You can take them out. But possibly there's two in the book of Revelation 12, in the story of this birth of Jesus, with the mother and the child. There's two objects that could be included. At least, hopefully from now on, you'll never see the manger scene without remembering these two items. that red dragon, that constant reminder of that ultimate battle between God, His Son, and that old serpent. And then a reminder that the time is ticking and that one day it'll be over. I like what A.W. Tozer said, one of the greatest preachers in yesteryear, he said, I'm not afraid of the devil. He can handle me for sure. He's got Judo I've never seen before. But He can't handle the one to whom I belong. And He can't handle the one whose nature dwells within my breast. Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world. The whole story about Christmas is about Jesus. who gives us the victory. Do you have the victory this morning? Heads bowed, nice clothes as we close. Do you know the victory of the blood of Jesus Christ over your life? If you were to die today and God's time clock for your life were to end and you were to step out into eternity, do you know for sure that your sins are forgiven? Do you know for sure that the blood of Jesus Christ has been put over your account and He can pass over you because you are free from the guilt and the penalty of sin? The only way that has happened is not because you attend church or because you gave money in an offering plate or because you're a good person or you were born into a Christian home. The only way that that happens is by your faith in Jesus Christ who spilt His blood for you. Do you know that? Time is ticking. And what profit a man if he gained the whole world but lose his own soul? And then as believers today, maybe you felt defeated this week and you need to be reminded that you can overcome the devil by your testimony. You can rebuke the devil and he will flee from you because of the blood of Jesus Christ that is over your account. Because of the love and dedication as a disciple that you're willing to stand even unto death. With heads bowed, eyes closed, the instrumentalists are gonna play here just as an invitation before we're dismissed. And if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, we'd be glad to share with you how you can know. The time is ticking. Are you a child of the devil? Or are you a child of God? Do you know for sure that your sins are forgiven and your home is in heaven? Will you trust Christ as your Savior this morning? You can do that right in your seat. Are you ready? Are you ready to meet God face to face? And then as believers today, the challenge for us is to continue to share that light, to think about the Christmas story and the manger scene in a different light, to realize we are fighting a battle and it's real. We feel it every day. We have an enemy like a lion, like a dragon serpent. We'd love nothing more than to devour us. Are you giving him the upper hand as she plays through one more time? Maybe God is working in your heart right there where you're seated. Will you go to him and confess your sins and dedicate your heart back to the Lord and your love to him? Will you be reminded about how brief life is? God's timetable is going to click exactly like he said it would. We have the end of the story to show us what it's going to be like. Are you ready? Song says, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Father, we thank You for the time we have to be able to go into Your Word. Thank You that You've given us the beginning but You've also given us the conclusion. And we know the end of the story. And we need that in light of what we look at when we turn the TV on and when we look at the news. Our hearts can be heavy when there's so much chaos and so much fighting, so much anger and hatred that is out there. We know there's a devil. We know that evil flourishes around the world. And Paul says it's going to get worse and worse. But Lord, we have the hope, as Peter said, that one day you are coming again. And when we look, we look to that hope to know that we have the victory and that one day, even though we may feel defeated right now, we know the truth is we are not defeated and that we have Christ. Would you help us this Christmas season to remember the ultimate battle that was fought for our lives and that the battle that is continuing to rage that we would look to the future and the hope that is coming in Jesus Christ. Bless us today, and if there is one that does not know Christ as their Savior, before it's too late, would they trust you and get under the blood? In Jesus' name.