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. . When you're done reading, if it's green it means it's on. And if it's green it means it's on. We're going to have the kids come up and they're going to sing some Christmas songs. So if all the kids that want to sing will come up. Yep, line up just like you were last week, bud. This is not where we were last week. It's on. You're ready to go. Okay. And it came to pass in those days that they want to add a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the works should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Saturnus was governor of Rome. And all want to be taxed, everyone, into their own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David. To be taxed with Mary he's a spoused wife being great with child. And she said that while they were there the days were accomplished that she would be delivered. And she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. And there in the same country shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And lo the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone around about them and they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be told of people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you of the glory of the Lord. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you of the glory of the Lord. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the big, ravens, water, and clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven the shepherds said one to another let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. 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And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And they came and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. All right. Good job, guys. All right. All right. Take your songbooks and turn to song number 430. Song 430 in your songbooks. We will sing while shepherds watch their flocks. If you would stand, we'll sing song 430. While shepherds watch their flocks by night, all seated on the ground, The angel of the Lord came down, and glory shone around. And glory shone around. Fear not, said he, for mighty dread had seized their troubled mind. Glad tidings of great joy I find to you and all mankind, to you and all mankind. To you in David's town this day is born of David's line. The Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this shall be the sign. And this shall be the sign. The heavenly babe you there shall find, to human view displayed. All meanly wrapped in swaddling bands, and in a manger laid. And in a manger laid. All glory be to God on high and to the earth be peace. Good will henceforth from heaven to men, begin and never cease. Begin and never cease. All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father of the Lord, we just want to thank you, God, for this morning. Another morning to me and your housemen to hear your word preached. I pray, Lord, that you would just be glorified and magnified out of everything we say and do, for it's in Jesus' name we ask all that. Amen. All right, you may be seated and turn in your songbooks to song 432. We'll sing Angels from the Realms of Glory, song 432. Angels from the realms of glory, wing your flight o'er all the earth. Ye who sang creation's story, now proclaim Messiah's birth. Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King. Shepherd in the field abiding, watching o'er your flocks by night. God with man is now residing, yonder shines the infant light. Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King. Sages, leave your contemplation, brighter visions beam afar. Seek the great desire of nations, ye have seen his natal star. Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King. Saints before the altar bending, watching long in hope and fear. Suddenly the Lord descending and his temple shall appear. Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King. Amen. Well, welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday morning. And this is the Sunday before Christmas, but Christmas is on a Saturday, and we have some kids that couldn't make it this morning, mine included. So Clara kind of had a really nasty fever a couple days ago and just don't want to get everybody sick before Christmas. But I know there's other kids that couldn't make it too, so we're going to end up doing the Christmas play again this coming Sunday. Brother Dave doesn't like it because it's the day after Christmas, and after Christmas he doesn't want to hear a Christmas song again for some reason. But it's the day after Christmas, so we can still celebrate Christmas. So we're going to plan on doing that again next Sunday just so that we give it an opportunity for those that couldn't make it and stuff like that too. And we usually do two times, actually. It's just that it was kind of a strange, well, I guess just because Christmas is on Saturday. But just some general church announcements. We do have some visitors from Virginia. So all the way, Norfolk, did you say, and Virginia Beach area. So welcome and all that. And then some general church announcements. We have normal church services today. We do have, if you look down at the upcoming events there, we have the Lord's Supper after the afternoon service. So we do our communion. And we usually do it quarterly, so this is kind of cap off the year with the Lord's Supper there. And so be in your places for that. And we don't do a closed communion, meaning that if you're from out of town, you can take the communion if you'd like to. Obviously, we recommend that you're saved and all that stuff. But that being said, we will not bar people that aren't members of the church to take the Lord's Supper. And then we do have on the list here the New Year's Eve party. So we have that set tentatively for 7 p.m. And think about that. I think that's what we did last time is around that time. But that gives you a good, what, five hours of time together until you bring in the New Year. And so we'll think about that. But that being said, it's going to probably be snacks and stuff like that because you should probably have eaten dinner before 7 o'clock. I don't know. Some of you may eat dinner late, but it's usually around 530 is when I'm eating dinner. But I don't want to wait that long. I'll come there and I'll be angry if I'm having to eat dinner at 7 o'clock. So that being said, that's on the schedule there. Our soul winning times are as scheduled. We have our main soul winning time this afternoon at 1 p.m. And so after we enter the service this morning, give you some time to get some lunch, come back here. We'll get teamed up and go out soul winning. And then don't forget about the regional soul winning times on Tuesday and Wednesday that Brother Charles leads up Tuesday, Brother Ricky leads up the Wednesday time. And so, again, get on the WhatsApp there for that. Psalm 2 is still our memory chapter for the month. And then Luke 2.11, which is a very famous verse, but I will end up butchering it if I don't read it. So Luke 2.11 is our memory verse for the week. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And so very famous verse, but pertinent for Christmas. And then do we have birthdays that are coming up this week? What day is it? It's the 19th? So we do. We have Ms. Joyce. Where's she at? She was here. Oh, okay. Well, we can still sing to her through that wall. There's a speaker in there. So I want you, Brother D, I want you to look at that camera when you're singing it. Did we miss, have we missed anybody's birthdays that are on the list here on December? Okay. I just want to make sure. And then anniversary, the senior anniversary is next week. So we'll remember to get you guys. And then all the ladies on the pregnancy list here. We have seven ladies on the pregnancy list, so be in prayer for all of these. But also be in prayer, particularly for the three ladies, I think, of Ms. Tabby, Ms. Joyce, and Ms. Amanda as far as just having babies. And just the recovery, all that stuff there. So a lot of babies. But just be in prayer. And I always say this, too, you know, obviously you have that first trimester that you're praying a lot for. And then that last trimester when it comes to the uncomfortableness. And obviously, you know, that can happen at any moment, you know. But, yes, it could in a case with the December as far as all that. So we just pray that you make it to the hospital and, you know, all that. But, yeah, definitely excited about all the babies and about just being in prayer for all the ladies there and the families. I'm trying to think if the – oh, yeah. So, unfortunately – all right, you know we have those Bibles back there? This isn't that big of a deal, okay. But the Bibles back there just happen to have our logo on it. That's just purely coincidental, meaning that we get a bunch of those Bibles that we just hand out to people and everything. We get those Bibles by the Case was the name of the company that I would just order all these Bibles from. Well, they got bought out by Bibles in bulk. And, anyway, they had the same Bibles but they didn't keep the same images. They didn't buy the images off of them. So, that being said, we bought three cases of the three different designs. So this is, I guess, kind of like the color, but it doesn't have the mountain range. Then there's just the plain blue. And then there's this one right here, which is more like a gold color. So, I want you guys to look at these and give me your thoughts as far as which one you would rather us go with. I think they're all fine. You know, this one's a little thinner. So when it comes to like carrying them out, I think the font size are the same. But we'll double check that because if the font's bigger than one of these, then we'll go with that. I think so. They're like, when they post it on there, it's like five to seven font. It's like five to seven? Do you work for Comcast? You know, like there's a font size, right? Like, you know, when you're using the Word document, I'm not like, well, I want 10 to 12, you know. Like, anyway. So, but that being said, you know, give me your thoughts. I'm a blue person, so I like the blue and just the regular type. But I carry these out so many. So this is kind of, I kind of like this because I can carry more of these. So anyway, this is what you call first world problems as far as like I don't have the design I want. But that being said, we do want, we're going to want to order a bunch more Bibles. So we'll just want to know which one we want to go with for that. That's about all I got for announcements. Don't, oh, yeah, so just general search announcements. The mother baby room back here is for the mother babies only. And so we don't want, obviously, men in there, but we also want to keep the older kids out. That's for the mother babies, you know, like small children. Obviously, if you have to take your children back there, you know, because you have a baby, then that's fine. And then the offering box is right there by the doorway. So you can get tied in the offering as you please there. That's about all I got for announcements. Brother Dave is going to come sing one more song. And who is reading this morning? Brother Joseph is going to be reading Luke chapter 2 for us. All right, take your song books and turn to song 434. Song 434, we'll sing O Little Town of Bethlehem, song 434. O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. For Christ is born of Mary and gathered all above. While mortals sleep the angels keep their watch of wandering love. O morning stars together proclaim the holy birth. And praises sing to God a King and peace to men on earth. How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is give. So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his have. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin where meek souls will receive him still the dear Christ enters in. O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell. O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel. All right, take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter number two. Luke chapter number two. My brother Joseph, come and read that for us. Luke chapter two. And if you found your place there, if you'll say amen. Amen. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Serenius was governor of Syria. It all went to be taxed, every one, into his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house of the lineage of David. To be taxed with Mary is his espoused wife being great with child. And so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. She brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. The angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David the Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. He shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. It came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven the shepherd said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcision of the child his name was called Jesus which was so named of the angels before he was conceived in the womb. When those days of purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As is written in the law of the Lord every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and the same man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And it came by the Spirit into the temple when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law. Then took him up in his arms and blessed God and said Lord now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles in the glory of thy people Israel. Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother behold this child is set for the fallen rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea sword shall pierce through thy own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. There was one Anna a prophecies daughter of Phineol the tribe of Assar she was of a great age and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about four score and four years which departed not from the temple but serve God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord they were turned into Galilee to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of Passover and when he was twelve years old they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days as they returned the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they supposing him to have been in company and in days journey and they sought him among their kingsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not they turned back unto Jerusalem seeking him. And it came to pass after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished and were understanding in answers. When they saw him they were amazed. His mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that you sought me? Was she not that I must be about my father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor and with God and man. Let's pray. Lord Father, thank you for this time that we're able to gather together this morning. Thank you for the children's singing. Lord, thank you for your pure and holy word and the salvation you have given to us through Jesus. Lord, I ask you to be with Pastor Robinson and edify us this morning in Jesus' name. Amen. And that's what coffee does to you. When I drink coffee, which sometimes I'm just pouring it into my eyes trying to wake up, trying to speak, that just dries out your throat and everything. I am always like, any time anybody sees me drinking coffee up here, they're just waiting for me to choke up on my words or whatever. But it's a long chapter, a great chapter. Actually, what I'm going to be preaching on this morning, obviously, is something dealing with the birth of Christ. And it's one of those things that every year you want to preach on the birth of Christ and you're at Christmas but you don't want to be cliché and you don't want to be preaching the same thing over and over and over again every single year. And so I'm always trying to hit it at a different angle or just see a different perspective that you're trying to hit on that. And the one thing I want to look at is the shepherds. And so look at verse 8 there. So Luke 2 and verse 8, it says, And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Now, when it comes to the Christmas story, I'm always thinking about, I guess when I was a kid, I would more so think about the birth of Christ and just the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate Christmas. It was always Christmas Eve evening and at night that I'd always be thinking about the birth, the manger, the shepherds and all that, which is very true because it was at night that these shepherds came to see Jesus lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. And the thing that I think about when I'm reading through the Bible is what do these men do or what do these people do to where they were chosen or worthy in order to see such a sight or to hear something or anything like that, right? And there are certain key elements that I think will show you why the angels came to these shepherds and why they were the ones that would go see Jesus lying in a manger and at his birth because we see that typical nativity scene where you had the wise men there as well and that's just not true. The wise men don't come until later. Jesus is actually in a house when the wise men come and they're following the star. That actually does not happen when he's lying in a manger. Now there's a whole sermon there as well in the fact that those of his own country came to see him first and then those that came from afar, from the east, and you kind of see the idea of he came unto his own, his own received him not, but then he went to the Gentiles and all that. But there were some people that received him because it says as many as received him that them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name. So we know that there were people of Israel that did believe on him. I mean his disciples, many thousands that believed on Christ. The majority obviously rejected him, but go to John chapter 15 and I want you to keep a finger there in Luke chapter 2 because what attributes do we see here about these shepherds? Well, number one, they're abiding in the field. They're abiding in the field. So one thing that when I think about this because you want to think, well, if I, and I'm just going to tell you the premise of my sermon, this is the first coming of Christ. That's already happened, and obviously we can't go back in time and be a shepherd and abide in the field and hopefully the angel will come to us and we can see the birth of Jesus, right? But you know what's next on the calendar is the second coming of Christ. Obviously the Antichrist is next on the calendar, don't get me wrong. I'm not pre-trib, but the next thing on the calendar as far as we're concerned in prophecy is end times, prophecy, revelation, and the second coming of Christ. And how does this type of story apply to us? And you're like, you're just bringing everything into end times. Well, you know, I am going through revelation. It is on my mind, but I do see a correlation here as far as, I'm going to use some theological terms here, the first advent and the second advent, okay? And so meaning the first coming, the second coming, and how this would apply to us. But let's first of all think about these shepherds. They're abiding in the field. John 15 and verse 4, notice what it says. John 15 and verse 4, it says, Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. So I want you to remember this, that it talks about abiding in Christ. Obviously, God the Father is the husband of men, Jesus is the vine, we're the branches, and we're to be abiding in him if we're going to bear fruit. Go to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. John chapter 4. When we're talking about fruit or bringing forth fruit, we're talking about soul winning. We're talking about winning people to Christ, okay? In this instant here, we're talking about basically a product of yourself, which would be another Christian, and we can't do that without Christ. We can't do that without abiding in Christ. And notice what it says in John chapter 4 and verse 34. This is kind of in between with the woman at the well. He talks to the woman at the well, then she goes into the city, and then they come back and all that, but this is kind of what he's talking with with his disciples in between that. It says in verse 34, Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth, and I sent you to reap that wherein you bestowed no labor, other men labored, and you are entered into their labors. And this goes into the fact that the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith. This has been going on since the beginning of the world as far as from Adam, Seth, Enos, that people are getting saved by believers preaching the gospel, and we're just entering into that, okay? Actually, brother Mike, who's visiting, I'm going to point him out, but he wanted me to the Lord, and you know what? Someone had to win him to the Lord. Someone had to, you know, his dad, and then you go back to the line, who won his dad to the Lord? You know what? I didn't start the train. You know, brother Mike didn't start the train. His dad didn't start the train. We're basically jumping on this train of, you know, getting people saved and winning people to Christ and bearing fruit, okay? And that's what it's stating here, but notice that he's saying, look on the fields, and when we're talking about them abiding in the field, what would that apply to? It'd be the fact that you're abiding in, bearing fruit, and you're in the field of soul winning, okay? You're in the field of reaping the harvest. And, you know, the Bible says the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborer is few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send for laborers into the harvest. And so, you know, obviously the laborers are few, and there wasn't a whole bunch of people that ended up coming to the birth of Christ, was there? There were just some shepherds that were abiding in the field that came to see that birth. And just a verse, obviously, the fruit of the righteous is the tree of life, and he that win its souls is wise, and that's where we get the idea. When we're talking about fruit, life eternal, when you win someone to Christ, that you're reaping life everlasting, because that person gets saved, they have eternal life, and that can never go away, and that is fruit. That's what the Bible teaches, the fruit of the righteous. Now, there's fruit of righteousness, which is something different, and there's other types of, there's the fruit of wickedness. You know, just because it says fruit doesn't mean it's talking about the same type of fruit, but in this case, we are talking about the fruit of the righteous, which is souls, one, okay? Now, they also kept, it says keeping watch over the flock by night. Go to Jeremiah chapter 23, Jeremiah chapter 23. We're talking about shepherds here, but I do believe that this obviously can in turn obviously be dealing with every single Christian out there, because not everybody's a pastor, not everybody's a shepherd as far as over a church, but everybody kind of can be a shepherd, if you will, in a certain aspect, as far as there's always people that are watching you or you're leading one person or another. Even Paul talks about the fact that you have many teachers but not many fathers, and, you know, I begotten you through the gospel, and the idea of someone basically guiding them. So if you're winning people to Christ, you can guide people, but maybe not on a church scale as far as being a pastor, okay? So every man, woman, and child that goes out sowing can in turn kind of keep watch over the flock, if you will, as far as who they win and stuff like that, okay? So I don't want to say, well, this is only for pastors, you know, so this sermon's for me, you know, and, you know, don't worry about it. That wouldn't make any sense for me to preach that, okay? Unless we're at a pastors' conference and I'm just like, all right, guys, keep it up, you know, because we're going to be like these shepherds, but obviously this is, I think, dealing with any Christian that's out there, okay? Now, notice what it says in verse 1. So Jeremiah 23 and verse 1, it says, Now, he's preaching against Israel, obviously, and he's preaching against, you know, Jerusalem and all that, and he's dealing with the fact that they're pastors, the shepherds, and he's talking on a spiritual level here. He's not talking about like you're not keeping the sheep like you should be doing it, like the actual sheep. He's talking on a spiritual level here saying you've dropped the ball, and Israel in turn dropped the ball holistically, okay? So when Jesus obviously came into this world the first time, they had dropped the ball, and he's saying in verse 4, And Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. So Jesus is obviously that branch that's under David. He's of the seed of David, and he's taking up the throne of David. You can look at that in Luke chapter 1 about the prophecy of Jesus coming. Now, Jesus is not ruling and reigning yet because we haven't got to the millennial reign of Christ. You know, he has to come back first to set up his kingdom, but he is the king. He is the king of kings, the Lord of lords, he is the Lord of righteousness, and he did come and saved all those that believe on him. And the idea here that I want you to see here is that holistically Israel, they messed up, but there were still some shepherds. It's not like everybody was reprobated in Israel, right? Not everybody was unsaved. Actually, Nathanael came up to Jesus. Remember when Philip called Nathanael, and when Jesus saw him underneath the fig tree, he said, Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. He said, Whence knowest thou me? He said, When I saw thee under the fig tree. You know, when I was under the fig tree, I saw thee. He says, Thou art the king of Israel. Thou art the son of God. It's like, because I said I saw you under the fig tree, believeest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. And the idea there is that he was already saved, and he heard the shepherd's voice, and he's like, that's it. And no guile, meaning this, is that the Bible says in Psalm 32, Blessed is the man in whose spirit is no guile. Because whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. So inwardly, spiritually speaking, Nathanael was sinless, just like any other believer. And by the way, that was in the Old Testament. So that's the same way today. It's always been that way. Now go to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. And pastors are obviously, that's what the term means. A pastor is a shepherd. It's a term to basically mean kind of the leader of the flock, if you will. There's roles of a pastor. One of the main roles of a pastor is to feed, but also to protect. You want to feed your flock, but if you just let the wolves come in, then you just fatten them up for the meal. So you have to do both those. In verse 28 here, this is Paul speaking to the elders of the church in Ephesus, which I believe they had multiple pastors, which is another sermon for another day, as far as that goes. But verse 28 here says, Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. Now overseers, you can get the term bishop, right? That's where, there's three terms that usually describe a pastor, and that's elder, bishop, and pastor, right? Or shepherd. You can use those interchangeably. Elder usually is meaning that they're elder in the faith, they're not a novice. A bishop is an overseer, someone that has basically oversight on the flock, and then obviously a pastor feeds, protects, all that. Now in verse, keep reading there, it says, To feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own self shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone, notices, night and day with tears. The Bible says that they kept watch, they're keeping watch over their flock by night. Now, I guarantee they were keeping watch by the day as well. It's night and it's time to sleep during the day and just let everything happen. The point that's being made there is that obviously this happened at night, so if they were sleeping they wouldn't have seen the angel speaking to them, I don't believe anyway, that they would have been there to see Jesus lying in a manger if they were sleeping during that time. And the idea here is that night and day they're keeping watch over their flock. They're warning, they're fending off the wolves and they're feeding their sheep. They're not being disobedient and just scattering the flock. So they care for their flock, they're feeding it, they're watching it. Go to Luke chapter 2 and what's the reward for them doing this? What's the reward for them abiding in the field and keeping watch over the flock by night? The reward is they get to see the Son of God lying in a manger at His birth. They get to hear, you know, the archangel, or not the archangel, but, you know, the herald, you know, Hark the Herald Angels Sing. You get to hear the angel lord speaking to you and telling you that this had just happened and then you get to hear a heavenly host praising God in, you know, one of the most famous passages in the Bible. I mean, so much that most people know this passage, even if it's just from Charlie Brown Christmas, they know this passage because even, I don't know because I don't have cable, but I think they still play Charlie Brown's Christmas. Maybe they don't, maybe it's hate speech now, so who knows? But they used to, okay, it wasn't that long ago that they would play Charlie Brown's Christmas and they would have this portion that they would read. But I want to read this portion in Luke chapter 2 and verse 9 that after it gets done saying who these shepherds are, what they're doing, what was the reward for them doing that? It says in verse 9, it says, And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord, and this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them. Now, even if we aren't in a day where this happens, because obviously there's a moment in time that that happened where Jesus was born into this world, but even if we're not in the days of the end times where Jesus comes in the clouds, listen, we can still rejoice and glorify God for the things which we have seen and heard by abiding in the field and by keeping watch over the flock by night. Meaning that there are things that God will show us and we'll hear and we'll see great wonders even in this life in between all of that. So I don't want to be like, well, I hope I'm in the, you know, when Jesus comes in the clouds. I do too, but at the same time, you can still look at this passage and say, you know what, I want to be like those shepherds. I want to abide in the field. I want to keep watch over the flock by night so that I can see great things of God done. And even if it's through His word, the Holy Ghost showing you and teaching you things that, you know what, if you weren't abiding in the field, you wouldn't see. If you weren't keeping watch over the flock by night, you wouldn't see, you wouldn't hear. You're like, how do you know that? Because the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that win his souls is wise and I believe that God gives wisdom unto those that do the work. You know, strong meat belonging to them that are at full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. So when it comes to knowing the Bible and hearing and seeing, you know what, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. And there's a lot of truth to the fact of abiding in Christ. And if you're abiding in Christ, by the way, he that sineth abideth not in him because he that abideth in him sineth not. So if you want to abide in Christ, then you have to be, you know, keeping under your body and bringing it into subjection, walking in the Spirit and abiding in Christ, winning people to Christ, having fruit, you know, abiding in the vine and that is when you're going to see and hear great things. And I can't show you that without you just doing it because I could tell you of all the great things that God has shown me through his word or the great things that I've seen out soul winning or just, you know, in church and just different things like that. I can tell you about that, but it's not going to be, it's not going to stick unless you do it and you see it and you hear it. Because even that story, if I were, if those shepherds came to you and told you the story, you'd be like, well, that's cool, you know, but you're not going to really know what that was like unless you were there with them when you saw it and heard it. Okay. I'm not saying you wouldn't believe them, okay, but at the same time, we can read this story, but could you imagine being there? Can you imagine the glory of God shining round about you and an angel speaking to you out of the sky and then hearing a heavenly host of angels? By the way, the heavenly host, it says later on that the angels departed from them, so it's talking about angels. That all these angels started singing and praising God and you got to see this in the middle of a field while you're keeping watch over your sheep. And it also shows you that you don't need to be king or rich or anything like that. You could just be a lowly shepherd that's just doing the will of God, doing what you should be doing, and God will show you great things that people have wanted to see for millennia. So it's something that I always just think about when it comes to Christmas is I wish I was one of those shepherds. You know, when we do those, we did a live nativity scene one time where the pastor of the church that we went to almost killed a sheep. It was almost very traumatic for the kids, but anyway, you know how you're always, you do these live nativity scenes or you do stuff like that or nativity scene and you're always like the shepherd or you're a sheep. We had live sheep, so we didn't have to be a sheep, but I remember my dad, he's like, you want to be a shepherd and here's why, because we have a fire and it's cold. And it was right, it was like 20 degrees outside and we're over there by the fire, you know, and all these other people are over there in the village, you know, cold as can be, you know, and I'm just like this is awesome. And anyway, but all I have to say is that you kind of look at it and be like, I don't want to be the shepherd, I'm the sheep, you know, like I want to be a main character, I want to be the angel, right? I'm proclaiming all this, but in the end, honestly, when it comes to the story, I wish I was one of those shepherds. I wish I was one of those shepherds that was there to see that and those shepherds were there abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. They were doing what they should be doing and God blessed them for that. Now, go to 1 Timothy 1 and the idea here is that Jesus came into this world to save sinners. He came into this world to die and that's what he told Pilate. He said, for this hour came I into this world. Because, you know, Pilate's like, I have power to release you and I'm paraphrasing, but he basically has power to either destroy or save him from that judgment. And Jesus is like, you have no power but what's given to you from above, first of all. But second of all, you know, the thing is that he's like, this is why he came. You know, so it's not like he was trying to get out of it. He despised the shame, you know, and he endured the cross. It's not like he wanted to, like he enjoyed it or anything like that, but he was going to do it. And in 1 Timothy 1 and verse 15, I just want you to see a clear verse here that he came into the world to save sinners. And verse 15 it says, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. So it's very clear. He came into the world to save the world. That the Father sent the Son into the world that he might save the world and that is the reason why he came into this world. That's why he was born the Virgin Mary. That's important, obviously, because he didn't have a physical father. Joseph was not his physical father. That means he's God manifest in the flesh. He is the Son of God, Son of Man, and God walked on this earth in physical flesh and blood and died on the cross for our sins. And that's why he came into this world. But look at 1 Peter chapter 4, 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 1, 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 1. So that's the theological term, the first advent of Christ. So advent just means basically a coming, if you will. And the idea, if you want to think about it, the Seventh-day Adventists. The Seventh-day Adventists, where do they come from? They're the ones that believe that Jesus already came. They were basically predicting the second coming of Christ, the second advent of Christ. And they were wrong like I don't know how many times. The fact that there's still a religion and that anybody would follow that is ridiculous to me. I mean, how many times do you have to be wrong before you're just like, yeah, this is bad. They don't know what they're talking about. But people still follow it. In 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 1 it says, For as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God. Now, what is this talking about? Well, in Hebrews it talks about the fact that he strove against sin. It says none of you strove against sin unto blood. Basically that he was striving against sin. And when it's talking about ceasing from sin, meaning this is that he's no longer dealing with sin. He's no longer fighting against it or dying for it or bearing it. He is no longer in the flesh. He's no longer being tempted like as we are and obviously yet without sin. But he's no longer being tempted. He's no longer in the likeness of sinful flesh and being tempted like we are. That's not happening anymore. Notice in Hebrews chapter 9, the reason I show you that is because when he came the first time he came to bear our sins. He came to take away our sins. And so many great scriptures on that, but verse 27 here says, And as it is appointed unto men, once to die, but after this judgment. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Now, what does it mean without sin unto salvation? Meaning this is that he's no longer dealing with sin. He's ceased from striving against sin. When he comes the second time, he's not coming to take away the sins of the world. He already did that. He did that once. Once for all. He's a sacrifice once for all. When he died and rose again the third day, he has the keys of hell and of death. He paid for every sin. He's the propitiation for our sins, not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So that's why it's ridiculous when people go to Romans chapter 11 and be like, Well, this is my covenant when I shall take away their sins. And they're saying, Well, that's when he comes in the clouds and he purges sins from all the Jews or something like that. It's like, What are you talking about? Do you want to just contradict the whole book of Hebrews or in the Bible at that? But the idea here is that he's not coming the second time to take away sins. He's coming to judge sin. That's what he's going to do. But he's not bearing the sins of the world anymore. That's already done. When he rose again the third day, that was over. So what's the point here? Well, how does this apply to us? If we're obviously 2,021 years, roughly, somewhere around there, from the birth of Christ, from his first advent, then how does that apply to us? What would this passage mean to us besides a cool story that we could look at and be like, Oh, I wish I was one of those shepherds. Well, how would this abiding in the field apply to us with the second coming? Okay, go to 1 John chapter 2, 1 John chapter 2 and verse 28. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 28. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 28. It says, And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Matt is coming. So just on that verse, on the surface shows you that there is profit to abiding in him at his coming. Does that make sense? So what is this talking about? Well, that shows you that not everybody's going to be abiding and that some people are going to be ashamed at his coming. Now, that doesn't mean that they're not saved. It just means that at his coming, they're not abiding, they're not watching, they're not waiting, they're just not ready. And why is that important? Well, go to Revelation chapter 3, Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10, Revelation chapter 3. And I hit on this when we were going through Revelation, but there is a promise to those that I believe that are keeping his word and that are doing what they should be doing. Meaning this is that I believe that there's a promise that if you do what you're supposed to be doing, you're living for the Lord, you're abiding, you're keeping watch by night, that you will see the Lord coming in the clouds. Okay. Now, look what it says in verse 10 here. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them to dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown. That doesn't say, you know, hold thou fast or you lose your salvation. And it's not saying that if you aren't kept from the hour of temptation that you lose your salvation. But it is giving you a promise that if you keep the word of his patience and, you know, that you're also keep, he'll keep you from the hour of temptation. And what is this talking about? Well, I preached on this before, but if you think about the hour of temptation of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in what hour you hear the music if you bow down to this image of gold, right, that they made to Nebuchadnezzar, you know, well, if you do. But if you don't, you're going to be this hour thrown into a burning fiery furnace. What happened? Did they die? No, not one hair of their head was singed, actually. And the Bible teaches that, and I'll show you some verses on this, but just like those shepherds that were abiding in the field and keeping watch by night, if you do the same, I believe at his second coming, you'll see him, you'll see the sign of the Son of Man. Okay? And I'm kind of getting ahead of myself in some verses here, but that's the premise I want to get across to you, is that this story, I've always loved the story of the shepherds, because I always just love thinking about being in that field at night, seeing this, and then going to see Jesus lying in a manger, and just so much peace, obviously, in that story and hope and joy. But how great would it be to be standing there when Jesus comes in the clouds? And that is something that could happen in our day. That is very possible that that could happen in our day. So this is very pertinent that you hear this sermon and you realize, hey, maybe I need to keep going, maybe I need to keep abiding, I need to keep watching. Or maybe I'm not abiding and I'm not watching, maybe I need to start. Because you're not going to lose your salvation if you're not abiding in the field, and you're not going to lose your salvation if you're not watching, but you're going to lose the opportunity to maybe see Jesus come in the clouds, because you may actually die in that time, because that promise is given to those that keep the word of His patience. You know, if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have bowed the knee, they may have died right after that. We don't know what would have happened, but they had faith, and they obviously didn't bow the knee. Look at 1 Peter 5, dealing with shepherds and the second coming of Christ. Now this passage here in 1 Peter 5 is dealing with elders, because it says unto the elders which are among you, I exhort whom also are an elder. So Peter is an elder, he's a pastor as well. And, you know, he had a wife, and I believe he has, actually Mark is his son, I believe Mark is his son, that's just my person. I believe Mark that wrote the book of Mark is Peter's son. That's a whole other sermon from another day, but even if he's not, he says Mark is my son, I think he's talking about his actual son in here. So I believe Peter was married and had children and all that, and he was a pastor. In verse 2 here, it says, Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. So get the picture, you've got shepherds feeding, watching over their flock, and all that. In verse 4 here, it says, And when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. So I see this as a perfect correlation to the shepherds that are abiding in the field, keeping watch by night, that, you know what, they're going to see the shepherd appear. The chief shepherd, that is. And the reason that it says chief shepherd is because obviously a pastor is considered an under shepherd, right? That's what the term pastor even means. And so go to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14, I just want to show you that correlation, too, with keeping you from that hour of temptation. Well, how do you stay away from that hour of temptation? How do you keep yourself from that hour of temptation? Or how do you keep yourself from sinning or not doing what you shouldn't be doing? In verse 37 here, Mark chapter 14, verse 37, it says, He cometh and fineth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest thou not watch one hour? This is when he's in the garden of Gethsemane. And he said, could watch for one hour? Hour of temptation? You think of the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the hour that you hear that music, the same hour you'll be cast into the burning fiery furnace. Well, how do you keep yourselves from that? Verse 38, Watch ye and pray lest ye enter into temptation. The Spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. So when we're talking about watching and waiting and being ready, we're not talking spiritually. That should be given. If you're not ready spiritually, then you're going to go to hell. When we're talking about Jesus coming the second time, when we're talking to Christians, we're talking about being physically ready. So obviously your spirit's ready, your spirit's saved, it's sinless, right? But physically, how do you do that? Well, you put off the old man and you put on the new man. You put off the flesh and you put on the Spirit, if you will. And that's how you are going to be watching and waiting. And how do you do that? By prayer, by fasting, by abiding in the vine. And that's what we need to be doing. Go to 1 Thessalonians 5, 1 Thessalonians 5, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 1. So I hope this is a cool correlation that you can see here, dealing with the second coming, the first coming, the second coming, and how the shepherds picture what we should be doing. In verse 1 there it says, But of the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Well, let's just stop reading there. He's going to come at any moment. Pre-tribulation rapture, right? Verse 3. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, verse 6, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. So obviously there's a time to sleep physically. I'm not saying to just stay up and don't ever go to sleep. What this is talking about spiritually speaking is being awake, being vigilant, being sober, knowing what's going on. And how are you going to do that? But by reading the Bible and by doing what you should be doing and keeping His commandments, abiding in Him, walking in the Spirit, putting on Christ that you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh, that is how you're going to stay sober, vigilant, and you're going to watch. You can't watch what's going on if you're asleep. Now, I know people say that and they're like, well, I'm watching my eyelids. That doesn't count. If you're watching your eyelids, you're not awake. Now, that being said is that this passage obviously is dealing with the second coming of Christ. It's dealing with the rapture, the day of the Lord. And we are to be not asleep but awake and watching. What were the shepherds doing at night? Were they asleep? No, they were awake and they were watching by night their flock. And that is what we are supposed to do. Mark chapter 13 is dealing with, obviously this chapter is the Olivet Discourse, if you will. So you have Matthew 24 and Mark 13. But I want you to see how many times it uses the term watch when it comes to talking about the coming of the Lord. Look at Mark chapter 13 verse 32. It says, Mark chapter 13 verse 32, it says, But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Just because you don't know the day or the hour doesn't mean you don't know the season. I want to make this very clear. I didn't know the day or the hour that my son was going to be born, clearly. If I would have, I wouldn't have been born in my truck. But since I didn't know the day or the hour, you know what, that kind of sprung upon us a little bit. But I did know that it was going to happen somewhere around, you know, March or April or something like that. He wasn't born in my truck and be like, I didn't even know you were pregnant. Now there's outliers out there. I know there are people that have given birth and didn't know they were pregnant. But let's just leave that one off on the side there because that's crazy. But most people know they're pregnant, but they don't know the day or the hour. And so that's what we're talking about here. But notice what it says in verse 33. And, listen, I want you to know that I was being vigilant and watching, but I'm not the woman, so I can't know these things. I'm out there clicking and clacking, writing a sermon, and then all of a sudden Holly's like, we need to get to the hospital ASAP. Holly, you've got to give me a little more notice than that. All joking aside, it worked out. It was great. But that being said is that we need to watch verse 33. It says, take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is. So even if it isn't in our day, does that mean we shouldn't watch and pray? Obviously, no, we should still watch and pray even if it isn't in our day. It says, for the Son of Man is as a man taking a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning. But as coming suddenly, he finds you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. Notice that it doesn't matter what time of day it is that we're talking about here. We're just talking about watching, being awake, being vigilant, that you know what's going on. And you know what? He's commanding the porter to watch. The porter is the doorman, if you will. Watch. Be sober. Be vigilant. Go to Luke chapter 21. Luke chapter 21. Now this, Luke chapter 21 actually occurs before the Olivet Discourse. This is actually when he's in the temple. And then after Luke 21, he goes off to the Mount of Olives and he's speaking privately with Peter, James, John, and Andrew. But that being said is that it's still dealing with the same type of subject. Luke 21 and verse 17, it says, And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but there shall not an hair of your head perish. Notice this. In your patience possess ye your souls. And you know the Bible says, you know, he that keep the word of my patience. And we're going through the book of Revelation. How many times does it say this is the patience of the saints? And it just keeps talking about patience, patience, patience, patience. And the idea here is that I believe that there's a promise to those that are waiting, watching, doing what they should be doing, abiding, keeping watch, that he will keep you from being killed. He will keep you to where, notice what it says in verse 27. It says, And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. He's going to come the second time without sin unto salvation for those that look for him. Isn't that what it says in Hebrew chapter 9? So if you're not looking for him, you may not make it to the end there. The Bible talks about tribulation such as the world has never seen. And that there's going to be many Christians that are going to die. They say, well, are you saying that every single Christian that dies is going to be someone that wasn't doing what they should be doing? No, well, the Bible actually says that there's people that will not accept deliverance that they might receive a better resurrection. So there are going to be people that are going to choose to have a better resurrection. Now, you can balance that out and be like, do I want a better resurrection or do I want to stand there and see Jesus coming in the clouds? And you know what? Who here wouldn't want to be a martyr for Christ for all eternity? Once you're in eternity, you say, hey, I was killed for the cause of Christ. I mean, obviously, that'd be great for all eternity. But you know what's also great that I think for all eternity is I was standing there when I saw Jesus coming in the clouds. And it's a trade-off, but personally, I'd like to be standing there when I see him coming in the clouds. And that's just my personal thing. Now, maybe I'll change my mind when I'm in it and be like, all right, it's time. Just take me out now. I want to get my crown. And you change your tune then. The last thing I want to note to just show you some correlations here is that go to Luke chapter 2. Notice what it says. It uses some similar terminology, if you will, or similar things that happen here. And I could spend a whole bunch of time on this, but I'm not going to as far as showing you all these correlations between what happens here at the first coming of Christ and then what happens at the second coming of Christ. But let me just show you a couple here. One is the sign. There's a sign given of Jesus coming the first time, and there's a sign given of Jesus coming the second time. It uses the same terminology. It says in Luke chapter 2 and verse 12, And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. So what do we see here? We see that there's a sign. The sign is that the babe is going to be wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Go to Matthew chapter 24. To me, it always was interesting that it uses the term sign in Matthew 24. But if you think about how that correlates to the first coming and that there was a sign of who Jesus was when He was born, the sign was that He was going to be wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And obviously that shows that He's the tender plant that's talked about in Isaiah 53. He's the meek and lowly Son of Man that's coming to save us. But in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 27, notice what it says, For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. And the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear what? The sign of the Son of Man in heaven. What sign? I believe it's talking about the fact that He's coming as lightning that's coming from the east to the west. And it says, And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Now, there are so many things that I can correlate to the passage of Luke chapter 2 here when it comes to this. But the thing I want you to notice that there's a sign. When He came the first time is that He's wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The second time that He comes, it's going to be like lightning that's coming from the east to the west when everything's dark. The sun, moon, everything's darkened. And obviously this is a special event because even if you had an eclipse, you can't have a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse at the same time because we don't believe in a flat earth. And the thing is that even at that, those eclipses only affect a certain portion of the earth. It doesn't affect the whole earth. So what's going to happen is that holistically the whole world is going to be under darkness. And when Jesus comes in the clouds, it's going to be this miraculous, just flashy event, okay, if you will. Did He come the first time? Was it flashy? No, He was lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. And, you know, He's having shepherds come see Him at His birth. I mean, it's not a flashy thing. But go to the next correlation, and like I said, I could show you a bunch of other ones, but I don't want to keep you that long here. In Luke chapter 2 and verse 9, Luke chapter 2 and verse 9, notice what it says here. It says, And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Can you think of a correlation between an angel and the second coming? Okay, how about this one in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the most famous passage in the Bible in the rapture. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 16, For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So, you had this angel that's speaking to him, you had the voice of the archangel that's going to shout. We saw that in Revelation chapter 14 as well, where you have the angel that comes out and says, Thrust in thy sickle to the Son of Man that's on the clouds, and he reaps the earth. But you say, well, I'm going to give you one more correlation that's not in my notes, but what happens after he says that, and after he tells them what's going to happen, there was a host of angels that were praising God and glorifying God. Well, what happens after that trumpet sounds, the angels gather together as elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Just correlation after correlation after correlation that you could see dealing with how this would apply, and how the first coming and second coming. And I love how the Bible fits like this, and again, I'm just showing you a little bit of it, but when I see a passage and you're going through Christmas and stuff like that, I hate being cliché, but I will be sometimes, just so you know. And I have been, and I've just preached the Christmas story and been like, this is awesome, and this is what it is. But then there's, I always, I don't want to just preach the same thing over and over again, and this is something that, you know what, I just kind of noticed that correlation, and the shepherds were always part of the story that I wish I was one of those shepherds. But the thing that you can think about is, why don't you be one of those shepherds at the second coming? I want to be one of those shepherds at the second coming. You don't have to be a pastor to be one of those that's watching and waiting and have all these promises. All these promises are to you. They're to me as well. But, you know what, here's how you do it. You abide in the field, and you keep watch by night. If you're doing that already, keep doing it. And if he doesn't come in our day, well, you've been fruitful, you've been sober, all your Christian life, you're going to be rewarded. But if it isn't our day, what a great day that will be. To stand there and lift up your head and look up for your redemption draweth nigh, and making it through a tribulation such as the world has never seen, and to see our Savior coming into the clouds to save us. That's a day that, how disappointed would you be to be in that day and you weren't waiting, you weren't looking, you weren't abiding, and that promise wasn't given to you. You weren't abiding, and that promise wasn't given to you, and you didn't get to see that. So, something to look forward to, and you say, you look forward to the tribulation? Well, listen, we're supposed to glory in tribulation. But in the end, I don't look at it like, well, I'm not a masochist, so I don't like getting hurt, okay? But at the same time, you know what I look at? I look at what's going to happen after that. You know, when I look at Revelation, yeah, there's a lot of crazy, terrible things that are going to happen, but I look at the fact that we win, and for all eternity, we're going to be praising God, and we're going to be living for all eternity without pain, without death, without sorrow. Yeah, I think a little bit of tribulation will be fine before that eternity, okay? And that's a mindset that we need to have, and we need to be thinking that way if it were to be in our day. So, but yeah, the shepherd's keeping watch by night, great story. I love it, and don't think that you know everything about it, okay? There's always something new to learn in there, but let's end with a word of prayer to the Heavenly Father. We thank you for today, thank you for your word, and thank you for coming and dying for our sins, and being born of the Virgin Mary, and Lord, just thank you for this time that we can remember it and honor you for it. And Lord, I just pray that you'd be with us and help us to be like those shepherds that were abiding in the field and keeping watch by night. And Lord, just pray that you'd help us to do that until, whether you come back or whether we die before you come back, Lord, we just pray that you'd help us to do that for our whole lives. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen. Amen. Let the able comments sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your song books and turn to song 420. Song 420, we'll sing, there's a song in the air, but before we do that, we're actually gonna, you thought I forgot. I didn't forget, actually I did forget. But you're out here now, so we're gonna sing Happy Birthday to Miss Joyce. Happy Birthday to Miss Joyce. You have a baby. I don't care, stand up. That's right, that's right. See? See? You gotta stand up now. That's what your husband and deacon said. There you go. See, that's how we roll. Here we go. Happy Birthday to Miss Joyce. Ready? Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, God bless you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday. All right, let's sing 420. Oh yeah, stand up, sorry. There's a song in the air, there's a star in the sky, there's a mother's deep prayer, and a baby's low cry, and the star reigns its fire while the beautiful sing for the manger of Bethlehem.