along those lines in the preaching. Looking at why Jesus came, why he was manifested. I gotta get my Bible and everything out. Oh, it was a good afternoon. Very thankful to the Lord for his goodness to us. Had a tremendous morning service. In that, I felt the leading of the Lord in the Sunday school. I had intended on speaking about the heavens. I had intended on speaking about the new heaven and new earth. and just laying out that God was gonna destroy this one and was gonna bring another. Okay, and that's basically what we were gonna look at, but the Lord had other plans, and there was some questions that kinda opened the door, and so we walked through that door a little bit, and come to find out God gave us a key, unlocked a door, and cracked the door just a little bit. And that's the best way I can explain it. Brother Dale, don't you think that's about the way it was? He just cracked that door a little bit, and we just got a glimpse of some things in there. It's just, I'm there with David, it's too high for me. I can't attain unto it. But there's some things in there that show just the immensity of God. Just the immensity of God. That he measures the heavens with a span. Oh, what a holy thing. Well, we're gonna look at that Godhead tonight. We're gonna look at the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go to 1 John. This is my safe water, if you understand what I'm saying. I've talked about that before where, you know, the Navy SEALs, they're trained that when you get in a situation and you need safety, you get to the water. And they are more comfortable in water than they are on land, all right, essentially, because they know it. They know it intimately. They spend so much time in it and train in it and all but drown in it. And then they learn how to, drown properly, if that makes any sense. And that's just kind of the way it is. And so even when they're overwhelmed by the billows and the waves of the sea, it's safety for them because they know it. And for me, that's 1 John. I've spent a lot of time with the Lord in 1 John. I love this book. I love 1 John in particular. This morning, we had looked at the gospel of Christ. We looked at the righteousness of God as manifested in that gospel, and we saw that righteousness of God. We went over to 1 Samuel 3, and we saw how God had revealed himself to Samuel by the word of God, and then we showed how Jesus Christ reveals that same thing to us. And it was a precious thing to me. Those things are precious. When I can see from the scriptures how it shows that Jesus Christ is manifested through the preaching of the word of God. It's a very precious thing to me But tonight before we get into this we're gonna be in first John 3, I think I said Let's see there. And why don't you just go ahead and ask the Lord to bless our time of preaching tonight? Amen. This life was manifested and we have seen it. This is that thing of Jesus Christ, that eternal life being manifested. We look at things that are alive today. We look at animals, we look at people. I'm not at the point where I'm ready to call plant life life. I'm not quite there yet. I'm trying to find it in the word of God and what I see is the breath of life going into creatures, not plants. That's just an aside, it's just something. But, With all of that, that life, we can't see life. What we see is the effect of life. Because the person is animated, all right? They blink, they breathe, they talk. They're alive. There's function in the heart. There's function in the brain. You know, clinically, they are alive. But we can't see what that life looks like. I don't know the life on the inside of my wife. I don't know what it looks like The thing that's called life that keeps her alive. I know that the life of the flesh is in the blood I know that since she is born of God her life is hid with Christ in God But you can't see life It's very much a spiritual thing, just like in John chapter three, where Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, and he's talking about the kingdom of God, and he says, you can't see the wind, where it's coming from or where it's going, but you can see its effects. You can see it move in the trees. And that's totally, terribly paraphrasing at all, but you understand where I'm at with that. You can see the effect of the wind, but you don't know where it's coming from, you don't know where it's going, unless there's something in the wind to show you that. And he says, just like the kingdom of God. Yeah, you can see the effects of it, but you can't see it. But yet in 1 John 1, 2, it says, and the life was manifested. We have seen it. And you know what was manifested? The body of Jesus Christ. That eternal word made flesh, that word that dwelt among us. It says, and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the father. This is eternal life. This is the true God, 1 John 5, 20. This is the true God and eternal life. It's the person of Jesus Christ. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. So you wanna know what life looks like? You look at the person of Jesus Christ. That is life. They had him manifested. They could see his flesh. They could feel the warmth of his skin. But we have something even more sure than that. We have a Bible. God gave you a Bible. You know what, we referenced this, we're not gonna be in 1 John quite yet. Go to 2 Peter chapter two, or no, I think it's in chapter one. Let me see if I can find it real quick. Yeah, let's start in verse 12. 2 Peter chapter one, verse 12. Now, as I've said before, I believe 2 Peter 1 really goes into the main thrust of the entirety of chapter one is that God has always intended to give us a completed, perfect Bible. You can see it in the words of Peter. Watch this. Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me." All right, so Peter knew he was about to die. It's coming. He's gonna soon have to put off his tabernacle. Jesus had showed him that, explained to him how he was going to die. John chapter 21, I think it's, is it 20? Somewhere in there, towards the end of John anyhow, goes into that in pretty good detail. And then it clearly says, this, he showed him how he would glorify God in his death, right? He's in his tabernacle as he's speaking this, as he's writing this, he says, I'm putting this in remembrance to you. But he says, I want you to remember even after I'm gone. Now, you can remember some things that people have said. One thing that I remember the most about my grandfather on my dad's side, we called him Papa Bill. His real name was Rexford George Seeley. And his obituary literally said he was a farmer. That was his obituary. That was my grandfather. He was a farmer. Born on that farm, died on that farm. Worked it, lived it, 94 years. He was a farmer. But one thing that I remember the most about my grandfather is that he could not hear me. I would talk to him, and in my little voice, He would say, you what? And I can still hear it. It doesn't sound anything like what I just said, but I can hear his voice. You what? And I'll even say that to my boys. It comes out as a question. Like, I didn't hear what you said. Can you say that again? And I remember a couple of other things that he said too, but I remember what his laugh sounded like. And I remember he said, you what? There's other things that other people have said that have passed away. We remember their words. but you have those in remembrance in your mind. And unless you share that with someone else, it's gonna be forgotten. So what good was it for God to show these things to Peter and he pass it on to these people if that was where it was gonna end? All right, there's something more coming. He says, I'm writing this down so you can keep it in remembrance after I put off my tabernacle. Let's look at verse 15. Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance." Even after my decease, after I'm dead, I will that you'd have this all in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty, which is what we quoted at the beginning. We beheld His glory, the glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse 17, for He received from God, and this is speaking of Jesus, Jesus, He received from God the Father, honor and glory. When there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice, which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount. Now, when was that? Josh, when was that time? Right. It was when he was transfigured into his glory. The veil of his flesh was kind of turned inside out, and you could see that glory within. That's what that was. They saw him in his glory there. They saw Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets there. They were discussing things. I have, you know, come around the time of the resurrection, we might just discuss the things that I personally believe they were talking about, but I have scripture for it, but that's for another time. But they heard this voice. He says, we were there. We heard a voice from the most excellent glory. We heard that thing come and we heard the father say, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. This voice came from heaven when we heard, when we were with him in the Holy Mount. But look at verse 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Now, more sure than hearing the actual audible voice of God. I know I've gone through this before, but it's time to talk about it again, and we'll be okay with it, right? Amen. Can you just imagine if God were to take this church building zip it right down the middle, open up the thing like a big tin can, and we hear the booming, thundering voice of God from heaven, and it sounds like a voice of many rushing waters, and it comes down, and it declares the word of God. Do you think that would be enough to convince some people that there's a God? Nope. Do you know what's a more sure word that can? This completed Bible. this more sure word of prophecy. He said, these things are gonna be even more sure than hearing the very voice of God. We have a more sure word of prophecy where unto you do well that you take heed. You do well if you take heed of that word. It would do you some good if you take heed of that word. As unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, And the day star arise in your hearts. Then he goes into this, and I love this, knowing this first. So this is the first thing you know. No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. It's not of any private interpretation. Now, modern day speaking, how would private interpretation work? How would that work? Well, you would take the Bible and you would look at a word, such as hell, and you would say, yes, I know that word says hell in my Bible, but what it really means is the grave. That's private interpretation. That's not how it was given. That's not how we're to handle it. What you have in your hands tonight is not a translation. It's not a translation of Hebrew into English. It's not a translation, maybe I should say not only. No, I'll just stick with not. It's not a translation of Aramaic into English. It's not a translation of Greek into English. What this is is the Holy Ghost's interpretation of the words of God in English. That's what this King James Bible is. It's the only Bible that claims anything close to that. It's the only one. It's the only one people will stand and say, this is the perfect Word of God. Others will hold their Bibles that they call Bibles and they'll say, this is the closest I can get to the Word of God. But we need to be careful that we don't hold the truth in unrighteousness. God has some pretty strong things to say about that. Well, how do you hold the truth in unrighteousness? Well, you hold your King James Bible, which is the truth, and you say, a better word for that would be, that's holding the truth in unrighteousness, changing the truth of God into a lie. You go to Romans 1, just see what God thinks about that. But this more sure word of prophecy has been given to us for a specific reason. is to reveal the gospel of Christ to us. Why? Because the gospel of Christ is how the righteousness of God is manifested. It's how it is revealed to us. It's how we know God. And it's how we know that God knows us. Amen to that, Mike. That's why God gave us a Bible. I didn't originate this statement, but I've adopted it as part of my mantra of ministry. When I'm dealing with somebody and we're talking about spiritual matters, I don't jump into the Roman's road with them. I just don't. I start with, you know what, God gave us a Bible. Visiting somebody in the hospital, and it was somebody that we all know, and for the sake of things, we just won't say names, and that's fine. And they were there completely unconscious in the hospital, and this fellow's best friend was there, and we were talking. He's an atheist, okay? He's been in the military. His one duty station, he was stationed in a box, basically, with a Baptist, and I kinda wanna think it was a Jehovah's Witness, but I could be wrong. But it was, you can only imagine on 12-hour shifts, the type of conversations that would be held. I mean, the room was about the size of the counseling room over here that they were in. All right, 12 hours at a time, that's the thing that they did. And a lot of time, they just had to sit there. That was their duty, so that's what they did. And he said, some of the conversations that we got into were really way out there, and it sometimes got heated, but this one friend of mine, this Baptist friend of this guy's, He always brought it back around to the Bible, and this guy appreciated that. He didn't believe in the Bible, but he knew some Bible from being with that man, okay? Vaguely specific as I could possibly be, right? Well, as I was talking with this same gentleman, he began sharing some of the things that he knew, and I said, well, I tell you what, I'll go back even further than that. And I told him, I believe that God gave us a Bible, That's why I know these things to be true. And then I explained to him the history of the Bible, just some basic facts about the physical Bible itself. And that it was written in three languages over a period of about 1,500 years from three different continents by over 47, 48, 49 people that God used to put the whole thing together. And the King James Bible, I told him, never once contradicts with itself and has one theme throughout. And I just went into a little bit further about the history of the King James Bible itself and the purifications that took place and all of this. And he said, you know, I've never heard any of this before. That's interesting. In America, people don't believe you can have a Bible anymore. They don't believe that you can have the word of God. Even in good churches, people will hold it in unrighteousness. I used to, I did. I took that, I was trained in that. The books that I read and the commentaries that I read and the theology I was trained in, that's what I was trained to do. This is the best we can get. This is the most accurate translation. The word of God is preserved in the Textus Receptus in the Hebrew Mesoretic text and that's where the word of God is and this is the best translation we can get of those texts. But I no longer believe that. Not because of what's written about this Bible, but because of what's written in this Bible. It has proved to me that this is the very word of God in English. Just as much as those Greek and Hebrew texts were, this is the word of God in English. I don't have to look to Greek and Hebrew for authority. Do you know where I go for, for the authority of the word of God? These very English words. Now, why we got on all that? I don't know, but there it all is. Okay, we have a more sure word of prophecy. You can believe your Bible. We don't take anything more away from this thing tonight. Those are the two things I want you to know. Now, let's go over to 1 John 3. We're actually gonna get into the message tonight. 1 John 3. We talked about those things about the word of God revealing Jesus Christ. And I had closed out this morning by saying that tonight we were gonna look at why Jesus Christ was manifested. Why was he manifested? Was it just so we could see the person of Jesus Christ? Was it so that we could see God? He told his disciples, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Philip it was. He said, I've been so long time with you, Philip. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Well, in 1 John chapter three, go to verse eight. Says this, he that committeth sin is of the devil. For the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. That's the reason. That he might destroy the works of the devil. Now what those works of the devil are, there's many facets to that thing. We could look at the facet of the work that the devil did in the garden. Remember, remembering the English word work talks about changing things. A Jew would consider flipping a light switch as work. You've changed the state of that light from being off to being on. Okay. But if you had set a crockpot the night before the Sabbath and turned the thing on and it cooked all Sabbath day long, you could take whatever was in that crockpot. It certainly wouldn't be a ham, but you could take whatever was in that crockpot out and serve it to your family. That would not be considered work. That's labor. All right, big difference in those things. It's very important when you get into, this is specifically the law of God, and those things there. Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest, and all those things. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done. But that work of the devil, we could look at that, that work that he did in the garden. What did he change? Well, he changed the state of man. from being closed in glory to being closed in shame. In looking at the transfiguration of Jesus Christ, in looking at him changing in that and that we are going to be changed and that there is a glory that's going to be revealed in us and all of that, you look at Adam and Eve and you wonder, well, how didn't they know they were naked? Was it just ignorance? Did they just not know that that nakedness was there was nakedness? What's the deal there? Well, when you look at Moses, when he was up with God in the mount and he came out, he had to put a veil over his face because his face shone with the glory of God, because he was there talking with God face-to-face, one-on-one, as a man talketh with his friend. And Adam and Eve had that same relationship with God. I personally believe on those merits and what we looked at and what we saw in the Scriptures there dealing with those things, that the reason they didn't know they were naked is because they shone with the glory of God. And that glory hid that. It hid that nakedness. But when they fell, when Eve was deceived, she was in a transgression, we looked at that this morning, she was in a transgression because she was deceived. But Adam willingly took of that fruit. And in those things, they fell. And that glory was hidden in flesh. Just as the glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was hidden in human flesh. We beheld his glory. The glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. When did they behold that glory? On that Mount of Transfiguration. That was when they saw the glory. Now, looking at this thing here, The works of the devil are there in the garden. Let's go back a little bit further than that. What other work did the devil do? Isaiah 14. I will be like the Most High. Lifted up in pride, that King of Tyrus. And so, Jesus Christ was manifested, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy those works. That was why He was manifested. Yes, it's to save sinners. We sung about that tonight in that Christmas carol. He was manifested to do those things. That is why He was made flesh and dwelled among us, so that He could die as one of us. And so that He could taste, let me put it in scripture, that He could taste death for every man, that we, by the grace of God. Now, His being manifested was for the sole purpose to destroy those works. Destroy them. I've seen some cities in looking at World War II documentaries and such, I think of like Hamburg that had that big steel ball bearing factory there in Hamburg, Germany. And when that was bombed, It cost a lot of lives. It cost a lot of American lives. They bombed it during the daytime. They had gone to the daytime bombing. And, you know, each plane had a crew of 10 men, and they would lose, oh, 10 or 15 planes per mission. Okay? And it's a lot of lives. But those bombs would come and they would totally decimate that city. And there were times where a city would be seen, and you've all seen pictures of it, maybe you've seen movies of it, you know, there's parts of buildings standing, there's rubble in the streets and all that, you can picture that type of thing. But when something was totally destroyed, it was not one stone left on another. It was absolutely destroyed. Nothing recognizable from its previous state. And that's why Jesus Christ was manifested. That's why we celebrate this time of year. That's why we look at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a babe in a manger. It is so that he could be born to die, but the specific purpose is to destroy the works of the devil. You realize he's your advocate in that? Remembering that when we looked at those things, an advocate does not accuse. He's in your corner. He's on your side. He was manifested for you. Look at the destruction that the devil has wrought in your life. And honestly, most of the time, he doesn't even need to do anything. We do a good enough job destroying our own lives on our own. Stupid decisions we make, hear the word of God, reject the word of God, do it our way, it brings death. You know, But he's able to destroy even those works. I think of Joel 2.25, where it says, I will restore unto you the years. I'll restore to you the years that were taken by those, those palm worms and the canker worm. And you know, God says, my great army, which I sent among you. Why did he send that army among them? Well, because of the works of the devil, because of their idolatry, because of the wickedness that had been sown in the hearts of the men. You know, you look at children, young children, there's just an innocence there. Many times it's robbed from them way too early. There's an innocence there. A lot of things are done just in absolute ignorance, but you can see the parents in the children. You surely can. Children that'll say things, children that'll do things, children that'll act a certain way or walk a certain way or wiggle a certain way. Certain things that children can do that you know, they didn't learn that from just being a child. They learned that from an adult. Then you see all throughout the Old Testament where God said, I want you to destroy that people and I want you to destroy their wives and I want you to destroy their little children. You know why? Because they were being trained in the iniquity of their fathers, trained in idolatry, trained in whoredoms, trained in all of those things. And it was the next generation that had already been corrupted. Jesus Christ was manifested to destroy that work. That's why he was manifested. So that the name of Jesus Christ would no longer be profaned in this world. So that the name of God would no longer be blasphemed. So that the word of God would no longer be blasphemed. Honestly, you know when the word of God is blasphemed the most? And you can check the scriptures with this. It's when women talk. Gossipers, busybodies. going about, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da. Says you need to stop that, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Paul told Titus as he was writing to him, that there's those who are subverting whole houses whose mouths need to be stopped. A lot of that going on these days, not a lot of stopping of the mouths, and it's a destructive evil. Let's go to 1 John 4. I only have four verses to look at tonight. I've gone through one of them. 1 John 4, look at verse nine. In this was manifested the love of God toward us. Now, I love that phrase, toward us. You realize that God is not against you. And if you perceive that God is against you, it's because you are against God. That's the only reason. To the froward, thou will show thyself froward. To the pure, thou will show thyself pure. If somebody is toward God, God's gonna be toward them. He says, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. But he says, if you forsake me, I'll forsake you. Who moved first? If you've been forsaken of God, who moved first? Wasn't God, which forced his hand. You realize that Paul delivered certain ones over to Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme. It's really the destruction of the flesh, that they might learn not to blaspheme. Blaspheme what? The name of God, the word of God, God himself. Delivered over to Satan. God used that evil spirit in the life of Saul, the king. God used that lying spirit and placed in the mouth of all the prophets of Ahab so that he would die in battle. Works of the devil. Jesus Christ was manifested to destroy all that. Wouldn't it be a great day when God no longer has to say, okay, Satan, go touch them, but only so far. They won't listen to my word. Go be an adversary, but only so far. Satan is unleashed as that roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. A lot of times it's just so that the works of the flesh, the secrets of the heart are made manifest. That's why. You won't believe it's in there. You won't believe you're full of iniquity. You won't believe the lies and adulteries and the thieves, the thefts and all of those things, the covetousness. You won't believe that's in there. So God says, okay, Satan, go touch them so that they can see, yep, that is in there. They are capable of that. That's the mercy of God, though. How else are you gonna know that stuff's in there if you just continually lie to yourself? Continually reject the word of God, not believe that that's in your heart, even though God continually comes and knocks at your heart's door. And it's not the picture of him standing outside the door knocking. That's not where I was going with that. But won't it be a great day when he no longer has to do that? When the word of God is the only word in the universe, when there's no more word spoken against the Lord, when we'll go and we'll rejoice as we look upon the carcasses as an abhorring to all flesh of those that have transgressed against the holy God. Oh, what a day that will be. That's what's coming. We have this grandiose view of this life, and we're going to live, and then we're going to get saved, and then we're just waiting for that ticket to heaven, and then we're going to spend all of eternity in heaven, but that's not what your Bible says. There's so much more. So much more. We sing about that. That's what's in country music everywhere. Goodness. But what does your Bible say about it? It says there's going to be new heavens and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth are passed away. They're gonna burn up. Peter says, knowing that all these things are gonna be dissolved, they're all gonna be just incinerated and burned up, how ought we to act? How ought we to behave? How ought we to live in such a way, knowing this beautiful church building is gonna be turned into ashes? It really sets your focus straight as to whether you are worshiping the church of God or the God of the church. What are you doing? Are you here to, you know, fulfill a religious observance? We talked about that a little bit this morning. Are you here just to see the beauty of the building and the, and, and don't get me wrong. I am very thankful for what the Lord has given us here. Absolutely thankful. He's allowed us to have so much here. I won't say that he gave it all to us. I think there's some that we probably have usurped and taken upon ourselves, but he's allowed us to have some very nice things here. Very thankful. But if we had to meet out in that Kubota shed out there, just maybe a space heater to take the edge off of the cold, would we be just as happy? It might help our spiritual walk a little bit. Our carnal mind is just so wicked. You're just so wicked. We love our comforts. Leonard Ravenhill, goodness, back in, I think it was 1983, said that creature comforts have killed the spirituality in America. That was back in 83. We're just so comfortable. We don't need God for anything. Again, those things, work of the devil. Why? Because you were a child of the devil. If you're lost, you're still a child of the devil. He is your father. That's why you don't address God. If you're gonna pray to God and you're lost, you don't address him as heavenly father. He's not. He's the Lord. You go to him knowing that he has no obligation whatsoever to answer you. You say, Lord, speak, thy servant heareth. Remember, we talked about that this morning. Approach God properly. This Syrophoenician woman learned that. Said, thou son of David, he answered her not a word. But when she said, Lord, help me, he then answered. Now there's more to that, but we don't have time to get into that tonight. In this was manifested, 1 John 4, 9. In this was manifested the love of God toward us. Because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. John 3, 16. Oh, sang about it in our Christmas hymn tonight. We sing about that in, you know, born to die. When did we sing that? Was it this morning? Okay, it all gets jumbled together for me. I can't keep things straight sometimes. But that's why he sent him. You also notice that it is, again, his only begotten son. If it was just his only son, well then, there are no other sons of God. That's why that little word begotten is so important in John 3 16. That's why. Because if it was just, you know, for God so loved his world, the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. If that's what it was, well, then we would not ever be able to call ourselves the sons of God. John's sayings now are with the sons of God. That would be a contradictory verse. Would not stand up in a court of law because they would pull up John 3 16 and say, oh no, he gave his only son. That means that's his only son. And so there are no more sons. It's only the only one. So you are not a son of God. Didn't that sound like a lie the devil would want you to hear? Just throw that out there. See where that lands. His only begotten Son. And that's the beauty of this thing, that He manifested the love of God toward us. How do you see the love of God? How do you see it? What was that, 1 John 3, 16? Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. You look at the death of Jesus Christ according to the scriptures, that's how you see the love of God. That love of God is manifested toward us in that he gave his only begotten son into this world, sent his only begotten son into this world that we might live through him. How do we live through him? Through the power of his resurrection. That's it. Had he not died, had he not resurrected, there would be no hope for you. That's the reason that he had to be resurrected. It wasn't just that he died, and I always wondered about this. Why did he die just to go to Abraham's bosom and then just to go back up to his father? That didn't make any sense to me. I couldn't rationalize that in my mind until I realized, oh, he was made to be sin for us. He died as a sinner. Sinners go to hell. Ah, that's why he needed to be resurrected. Because he wasn't gonna be left in hell. It's the faith of Christ. Again, the resounding theme throughout the word of God, Mike. That's what that is. It's what you see. That's what you see in the volume of the book. Knowing that the promises that his father gave him were gonna come true. And it's a beautiful thing, because he offers that same faith to you. Offers it, it's right here. Believe the word of God, I'll give you my faith. I'll build it in you, bit by bit, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little. Now, let's go someplace else. Let's go to John 1, 14. You know, we might live through him, that life, because he is that life. John 1, we'll start at verse 1. As I said, when we were talking this morning in the men's class, I do believe that this is the beginning. It talks of in the beginning. There's a couple places in the Word of God it says that. I believe this is the very beginning. This is the first beginning, if we'll put it that way. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Past tense. Darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And again, you're gonna believe Calvinism, you gotta cut verse nine out. Just go ahead and cut it right out of your Bible. He was in the world, and the world was weighed by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. You know what that power was? The gospel, power of the resurrection. That's that power. It's the power of God. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word was made flesh. and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. He was manifested so that we could see the love of God. He was manifested so that we could see the life of God. He was manifested so that we could see the righteousness of God. It was manifested that we might believe him. That's why he was manifested. That's why he came. That's why we celebrate this time of year. And I'm not one for getting on a soapbox and preaching against the commercialism of Christmas. We'll let Charlie Brown do that. He does a pretty good job. Linus does a really good job of laying things out and giving the Christmas story. Doesn't it just grieve the heart of God? Rockin' around the Christmas tree. And that's Christmas. Rappin' for Christmas, rockin' for Christmas, country Christmas, bluegrass Christmas, all have a blue Christmas, dreaming of a white Christmas. All the while his son was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. That's Christmas. Let's go to Matthew chapter one. I think we're going to close out here. I was gonna jump right into verse 18, but the Lord wants me to stumble through these names. Who shall declare his generation, Isaiah said. He's gonna use the stammering tongue, because here it is. Matthew chapter one, verse one. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judas and his brethren, Judas begat Phares and Zerah of Tamar, and Phares begat Esram, and Esram begat Aram, Aram begat Amminadab, Amminadab begat Naasan, Naasan begat Salmon, Salmon begat Boaz of Rakab, and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth, and Obed begat Jesse. Now what you just saw there was Tamar, who was raped by her father-in-law. And we say he may have a harlot. And we see Ruth on Moabitess, in the generation of Jesus Christ. Those things are precious. Verse six, and Jesse begat David, the king. David, the king, begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah. Couldn't have just said Bathsheba, huh? No, because that's the word of God. David's sin is ever before me. Psalm 51. There it is. By the way, this word is settled forever in heaven. That'll always be there. Solomon begat Roabom. Roabom begat Abiah. Abiah begat Asa. Oh, and Asa. Asa was a good king. I remember that. It's interesting because he is the fifth generation from David. David had a woman problem. Solomon had a woman problem. Rehoboam had a woman problem. Abijah had a woman problem. And then Asa comes along and did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. Thank God, showing mercy unto thousands that love me and keep my commandments. Well, let's keep going. And Asa begat Jehoshaphat, verse 8, and Jehoshaphat begat Joram, and Joram begat Ozias. Ozias begat Joatham, Joatham begat Achaz, and Achaz begat Ezekias. Ezekias begat Manassas, Manassas begat Ammon. Oh, and we know what Ammon was a good man, huh? Ammon begat Josiah. Now we do know he was a good king. Josiah begat Jeconias and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon. After they were brought to Babylon, Jeconias begat Silethiel. Silethiel begat Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begat Abiud. Abiud begat Eliakim. Eliakim begat Azor. Azor begat Sadok. Sadok begat Achim. Achim begat Eliud. Eliud begat Eleazar. Eleazar begat Maathen. Maathen begat Jacob. Jacob begat Joseph, husband of Mary. of whom was born Jesus, who was called Christ. When was the last time the genealogies brought tears to your eyes? I'll be completely honest with you, it's never happened for me before. So all the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are 14 generations, and from the carrying away of Babylon unto Christ are 14 generations. Who shall declare his generation? Matthew did. And you see all these generations, these 14, 14, 14, and I understand there's some in between there that aren't listed. I get that. But you see these generations listed, lives lived, personal struggles, sicknesses, pain, exhaustion, hunger, love, war. All to get us to verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord, the angel of the Lord, appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. And that's the story. That's why he was manifested, to save his people from their sins, to destroy the works of the devil, to show us what life looks like, to show us the righteousness of God in the face, in the person of Jesus Christ, to make visible the invisible God. And this grace is extended to you in the pages of this beautiful book, recorded for all time so you can know him, the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable even unto his death. Theron, why don't you come up and close us in a song?