Christmas

This is the day when politicians lie all the time. Rather than we live in an age when politicians lie all the time, if they're not lying, they're exaggerating the truth. The facts always landed in their favor. If it's a Democrat, everything is in their favor. It's a Republican. It's in their favor. It's difficult today in this world to know whom to believe. Who do you really believe? If you listen to the leaders of Iran, we don't want uranium to build a bomb. We just want it for peaceful purposes. And if that's true, then you'd think they're very honorable and trustworthy. But we know that they want to absolutely destroy Israel and drive them into the sea. This is true of many nations today and in the past. What about Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain? And when he came back waving this treaty, peace in our time! And it wasn't worth the paper it was written on. It's also true of politicians in our country today when even top leaders lie continuously and are not telling the truth. It seems like power, money, prestige, continuation in office, all of those type of things, triumph the truth. That people will do anything to be able to stay where they are. The same is true of all facets of society today when you look around you. Now, the Bible clearly tells us something. Let's go over to John 17. 17. Many of you may have this memorized. John 17. 17. Christ said, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. So if you want to know what is true, it is the Word of God. This we can rely upon. You can't rely upon men, the words of men, their promises, but you can rely upon the Word of God. Now, the word truth means evidence in relationship to facts.

And it also means reality.

That it's something that's real and it's related to the facts. In John 8.32, if you just turn back here a few pages, you also find this statement. May John chapter 8 and verse 32. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

Free from what? Well, superstition, wrong approaches, wrong ideas, deception, false knowledge, sin, all of these things. If you know the truth, it sets us free. And how many people have been slaves to error, falsehood? All of us were at one time before God called us and opened our minds. We were in slavery to the wrong things. Now in John 14 and verse 6, Jesus said to him, notice here, Thomas said to him, Lord, verse 5, we do not know where you're going and how can we know the way? And Jesus said to him, notice, I am the way.

I am the truth.

I am the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So ultimately, where do you go to find the truth on a topic or a subject, especially if it pertains to worshiping God, how to worship God, what should we do, how does God want to be worshiped? Well, see, the Bible tells us when Christ says He is the way, the Bible shows us the way to worship God, is it not? Jesus Christ gave us the pathway. He set the example. If you want to know how to do something, I remember learning how to play basketball. If you want to learn how to play basketball, you get somebody who knows how to play basketball, and he says, okay, this is the way to shoot. And you don't just chuck it. You learn to shoot, and you get this goose net where you're shooting the ball. Well, that's supposedly the way it's supposed to be done, with the arm in the right place, the elbow properly placed, and you shoot. Well, if you want to learn the way to be a Christian, who do you think you would follow? Who does a Christian base his life on? Well, on Jesus Christ. On how Christ lived. And so, in the New Testament, the book of Acts, you find many times, it talks about how this way they persecuted, you know, this way of life. It is a way that we live. And that way is not found in some philosopher's head or book that he's written. It's found right here in the Scriptures, based upon the truth. Now, you notice it also says here, I am the truth. So Jesus Christ is truth. What he said was truth. His words are. The Bible is truth.

So this implies that there are ways that people will follow and go in, that are not the truth, that are the wrong ways. Now, and then it goes on to say, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

Now, anything that does not lead you to eternal life is wrong.

God has called us to have eternal life. We worship God in the way that God says. According to the words written in the Bible.

And if our relationship with God does not lead to eternal life, it's vain, it's useless, and it's wrong. There is a way to eternal life, and Christ came to reveal that way. There are major religions around this world, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confuciusism, Islam. You know, major religions that teach things that are directly opposite to what the Bible teaches. Directly opposite to what Christ taught. That Christ is not looked upon as the Messiah. He just looked upon as a prophet. And they go against what the Bible teaches. Jesus Christ is the truth. And so, if their practices are not leading you to eternal life, then why would one practice it? How many people have ever stopped to ask the question about established Christianity?

Is this right? Does my church teach the truth? Am I attending the right church, the proper church? Could they be teaching falsehoods and lies? You know, how many people actually stop to think about that? A few do, but not very many. And most people go to church every week, and they never stop to ask, well, should I really be worshiping here on Sunday? Should I be keeping this custom, that custom, this tradition, whatever it might be?

Have they ever stopped to ask themselves the question, have I been deceived by false religion?

Today, I want us to compare the truth of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ with some of the customs that are practiced in Christianity.

What about the custom tradition of Christmas?

And many of the traditions around that particular holiday, does it commemorate the birthday of Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Where did it come from? Where did it originate? Now, we know that Christmas began long before the birth of Jesus Christ.

Alexander Hislop, and many of you have this, Alexander Hislop's book, The Two Babylon, explains many historical sources that show that this holiday and the observance of it preceded Christianity by 2,000 years. That it was, many of the customs and ideas surrounding it, were being practiced long before Christ was ever born. A Nativity celebration for pagan gods was observed near the winter solstice in both Syria and Egypt. Later, some 400 years before Christ, the Mithridic religion centering on the Persian god Mithras provided the foundation for the Christmas celebration. Mithrism became very popular in the Roman Empire, and many elements of worship survived today in the Roman Catholic Church. Many Mithridic practices have survived down to this day. For example, the noted British anthropologist, historian, and scholar, Sir James Fraser, knighted for his contribution to our understanding of ancient religion, wrote in the book, The Golden Bala. How many of you have a copy of The Golden Bala?

My wife held her hands up. We do, so we may be the only ones here to have a copy of that. How many of you have a copy of Hislops? Two Babylons. Quite a few more, but still not that many.

These are wonderful books. If you want to go back and study the origin of some of the customs that we find pommed off as Christianity today, notice what is written in the Golden Bala. Quote, There can be no doubt that Mithridic religion provided a formidable rivalry to Christianity, combining, as it did, a solemn ritual with aspirations after moral purity and a hope of immorality. Indeed, the issue of the conflict between the two faiths appears for a time to have hung the balance. An instructive relic of a long struggle is preserved in our festival of Christmas, which the Church seems to have borrowed directly from its heathen rival. So, when Christianity began to develop, the Mithridic religion was a major religion in the Roman Empire, and so the two of them began to become rivals. And Christianity survived, but has survived by borrowing certain customs and traditions from these other religions. Going on here, it says, In the Julian calendar, the 25th of December was reckoned the winter solstice. It was regarded as the nativity, or the birthday, of the sun, S-U-N, not S-O-N. Because the day began to lengthen, the power of the sun to increase, and from that turning point of the year, the ritual of the nativity, as it appears, to have been celebrated in Syria and Egypt was remarkable. The celebration retired into certain inner shrines, which at midnight they issued a loud call or cry. The Virgin has brought forth the light his waxing, or getting stronger. The Egyptians even represented the newborn sun by the image of an infant, which on his birthday, the winter solstice, they brought forth and exhibited to his worshipers. No doubt the Virgin, who thus conceived and bore a sun on the 25th of December, was the great Oriental, Mid-Eastern Goddess that the Semites, or Seminites, called the Heavenly Virgin, or simply the Heavenly Goddess, otherwise known as Estrade, from which we get Easter. And so, you know, you have that admitted. Why does the real origin of these customs... Well, let's turn in our Bibles back to Revelation 17.

Revelation 17 began to read here in verse 1. I want you to notice something that is described coming all the way down to the end of time. In the book of Revelation, you find the word Babylon used quite often. It refers to a political system. It refers to an economic system. And it also refers to a religious system. And it refers to a system of religion and politics mingled together.

So, you find here, says, one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls, came and talked with me, saying to me, Come, and I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. He carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-covered beast, which was full of names of blaspheme, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was a raiden purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. Now, if you want to know what all of this refers to, go back and read Hislops. Woodrow has also written a shorter version of that. But notice on her fore it was a name written, Mystery Babylon the Great. The word mystery in the Bible means something that has been hidden. So here is Babylon the Great, and there's something mysterious or hidden about her. She is the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth, and I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and when I saw her I marveled with great amazement. So it's talking about Babylon the Great, and it refers to a mystery.

All you have to do is go back to Genesis chapter 10 and 11. I didn't write this down, but let's go back to chapter 10 here in the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 10, this is shortly after the flood. The genealogy of the sons of Noah are being recorded here.

Now you'll notice in verse 6, the sons of Ham were Cush, Mitsuram, Put, and Canaan. Verse 8, Cush begat Nimrod, and he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Now that can mean before, in front of him, or in place of him, before him, in the eyes of the people. Therefore it said, like Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord, and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Arach, Akkad, Calna, and the land of Shinar. So you'll find he began to organize people into city-states, and to begin to come up with what is called here kingdoms.

Now, Cush married a woman called Semiramis, had a baby called Nimrod. Nimrod, apparently, now this is all according to tradition, and Semiramis plotted and killed Cush. Nimrod then marries his mother, Semiramis. Now, Nimrod and Semiramis developed a mystery religion. They used symbols to teach the people, and the reason for that is because, according to tradition, you find that Shim carried on the truth of God after the flood. And Shim, apparently, hunted Nimrod down and killed him, cut his body into many different pieces, and those parts were shipped around to the various cities, various people, as a warning. So Semiramis, you really took this to a great degree. They still practiced pagan ideas, but they gave them a different sounding name.

People began to do things like worshiping under an evergreen tree, giving gifts. And all of this was done without the people really fully understanding why they were doing it. Now, after Nimrod died, Semiramis had an illegitimate son. His name was called Horace. She claimed an immaculate conception had taken place. Lo and behold, one day she was just pregnant. Didn't know how. And from that, you had a counterfeit of what the Catholics call the Madonna and Child. That you had the counterfeit later on, that when Mary comes along and has a baby, and claims, which is true, that the conception was from God, that historians today, looking back on that, say, well, they just borrowed that from the pagans.

Because all the pagans have traditions of this taking place, and that's true. You see, what happened? The origin of the false tradition goes back to the time of the Tower of Babel. But in chapter 11 of Genesis, you'll find at the Tower of Babel what happened. All the languages, or the language, was divided. All the people had the same religion, but now they spoke different languages. And so, instead of calling their God by one name, now they all had different names. They still practiced the same religion, but they referred to their gods and their customs by different words. And we find that also they spread out.

All those who spoke the same languages went somewhere else, and they began to spread around the world. And so they still practiced the same customs, called them by different names, and gods by different names. And over centuries, as time goes on, some of the customs change, some of them are dropped. And so you'll find over thousands of years that they still keep certain elements, but the religions slowly change. Beliefs evolve, and they begin to take a different form. So this is why historians, as I said, can look back, look at the historical record, and claim that the Madonna and Child are a pagan origin.

That the Bible only borrowed it from the pagans. The pagans borrowed it from God. You know, there's a difference. They, you know, Satan knew that there was to be one who was going to come. Genesis 3. You know, what was said back at that time. And so he counterfeited a lot of what was going to transpire in the future, so that when it did take place, it just looked like it was something that's paganism borrowed.

Now the problem was, the church that developed and became known as the Christian church, did borrow a lot of its customs. From paganism. But when the Bible states that something is a fact, it is a fact. It is the truth. It is right. And so, you know, we don't have to look to the customs around this. All we have to do is, what does the Bible say about the birth of Christ?

And we know from that. Tertullian, or Tertullian, I should say, was an early Catholic theologian and writer. He lived around 155 to 230. He had been a convert from paganism. He wrote numerous works defending Christianity, as it was understood at that time, combating contrary teachings and giving exhortation to his believers to follow what was right. He described how the Christian converts of his day were already ignoring the Sabbath, the Holy Days, and flocking to the pagan festivals, like the Saturnalia. Notice, quoting from Hislop on page 93, what he has to say on Tertullian on idolatry, But us who are strangers to the Sabbath and new moons, and festivals once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feast of January, the Brumalia, and the Metronalia, are now frequented.

Gifts are carried to and fro. New Year's Day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar. Now, he's describing basically the second century and what was taking place at that time. He rebuked Christians for joining in such pagan celebrations. Notice what he said, Oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from Christianity.

No pagan would want to be called a Christian, is what he's saying. Doesn't that remind you of what's going on today? You know, the Bible says that the heathens don't forget their religion. It's only Israel who does. Let's notice Isaiah chapter 1. You know, when I was thinking about this and reading that, it reminded me of Isaiah chapter 1 beginning in verse 2. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, Isaiah 1, 2.

For the Lord has spoken, and I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not consider. Look at the Muslims, how faithful they are five times a day to get down and pray. They're willing to die and blow themselves up for their religion, you know, to spread it around the world. And yet, here we are in this country. You know, there was an article in the paper this morning.

I think it was Montgomery, Alabama, where they were talking about the textbooks. Textbooks are written where they are putting down Christianity and praising Islam. And so here we are in this country. We have diversity.

We have tolerance. And it's coming to the point where we accept every kind of religion but Christianity. And so, you know, the Bible, God's very clear that His people forget who the true God is. They forget what He wants them to do. And yet, you don't find the nations around them doing that. Hindus practice Hinduism. Buddhists practice Buddhism. Those who practice Islam practice Islam. And yet, when it comes to Christianity, people, you are very free to just sort of forget.

And there is not that fervent desire to obey. Notice again what Tertullian had said. He further stated the pagans, for even if they had known them, they would not have shared the Lord's Day or Pentecost with us. For they fear less they would appear Christian. They don't want to appear Christian. Yet, we are not apprehensive referring to Christians that we might appear to be pagan. So, Christians don't mind being pagan. So again, you find the ideas and writers writing back at that time showing exactly what was going on. And what does God say about following the customs and traditions of the pagans of this world, of society around us?

Let's go back to Deuteronomy chapter 12. Deuteronomy 12, chapter 29. Deuteronomy 12, 29.

It says, When the Lord your God cuts off from you, the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them. In other words, don't follow their way, their custom, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their God, saying, Well, how did these nations serve their God? I will also do likewise. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. What did Christ say? I am the way. So we follow the way that Christ says. So he says, You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, the way that the pagans do, for every abomination to the Lord. Word abomination means everything despicable, hateful to the Lord, which he hates, they have done to their gods, for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their God. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it, nor shall you take away from it. So we are to serve the true God according to his way. Jesus Christ is the way, so we don't worship him in the way that the heathens do. Notice Matthew 7. Matthew 7 and verse 21. Matthew 7 and verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name, and I will declare to them I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness.

Now what is lawlessness? 1 John 3.4. Sin is the transgression of the law. Lawlessness is sin. So those who practice sin, live in sin, aren't going to be in God's kingdom. So we're not to add customs or take away from God's law. Adding customs would be like customs from heathen religion, you know, their holidays. Taking away from God's law would be such as doing away with the Holy Days. So you adopt one, you do away with the other. That's exactly what the so-called Christian church did. Now let's notice in Jeremiah 10.

Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 1.

Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 1. Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord, Do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Now again, every time you read that, remember John 14.6. I am the way, Christ said. So here God says, don't learn the way of the Gentiles, nor to be dismayed at the signs of heaven. For the Gentiles are dismayed at them, for the customs of the people are futile or they're vain. For one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hand, of the workman, of the axe. They decorate with silver and gold. They fasten with nails and hammers so that it won't topple. They build idols and they worship them. So God says not to learn the way. Jesus Christ is the way, He's the truth, and He's alive. So their customs are vain. Now there's so many things that we could cover on this topic today. Now I've given, every year I give one or two sermons on Christmas, not the traditional ones, but non-traditional. And there is one tradition, though, I'd like to focus on today that many of you may have never thought of from this perspective. Surrounding Christmas, we could look at numerous ones, and this one teaches, this one, and the teachings associated with it, are blaspheme to God. And why? Because it takes the place of God. There is one facet of the Christmas customs, and it actually emulate God. And what am I talking about? Well, I'm talking about Santa Claus, what we would call, supposedly, the old Saint Nick. Supposedly, he was a saint who roamed around somewhere around the third century giving gifts out. That's not what it's all about at all. It goes back to Nimrod, Semiramis, Horus, and to that Babylonian beginning.

So let me explain to you what I mean by this. Because Santa Claus is pictured in teachings, even in sermons, by parents, in song, in poems, in articles. He's preached as having God-like qualities and attributes. So let me explain what I mean. Who is it who lives forever?

Never dies. Who is it who's lived for thousands of years? Never changed. Never died. Who is eternal? Santa Claus has been supposedly going forever, or as long as human beings have been around, thousands of years. Every December 25th, he comes around, he gives gifts, and he doesn't age. He's old to start with, I guess. He's out there, he does the same thing. He has all these little elves. I've never seen one, but he has them. He builds billions of gifts and delivers them in one night. His life seems to be endless. He never dies. He's always there to do good, to give gifts. Now I'll come back to this several times. Who is the giver of every good and perfect gift?

Well, the Bible says God is. That God is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

Is any individual eternal? You can live for thousands of years. Well, Deuteronomy 32.27. I'll just refer to some of these, but I'll read one or two of them. Deuteronomy 32.27. I want you to notice, talking here about God, it's actually 33.27.

Chapter 33 in verse 27 says, The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. The Bible refers to God as being the eternal. The word Yahweh, or Yahweh, however you want to pronounce it, or Jehovah, as many refer to it, is the word referring to the fact that God has always lived. He now lives, and He will live forever. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so you find that God is the eternal. That's a good translation of what that word means. The eternal, one who has always lived and will always live. So He lives from generation to generation, yet Santa Claus's picture is having many of the qualities that God does.

Now, you realize that when people tell their children that there's a Santa Claus, that they're lying, that that's a falsehood, that's not true, and yet it's quote-unquote acceptable today. In fact, I was talking to someone in the Rome congregation because I gave this sermon there a week or so ago, and we were talking about this. And they had the idea when they first found out about this. Well, the question naturally arose. Well, what about God? Is He real? What else have you not told me? You know, you tell me this now. What happens when I turn 10 or 12? Are you going to tell me something else? So God is the eternal, not any man. Satan is also pictured as being omnipotent.

Satan, with Satan, all things are possible. No type of weather inhibits him from delivering his gift. It doesn't matter if it's 135.8 degrees below. You know, it got that this past week. It's either the Arctic or Antarctic. 135 degrees below zero. The coldest ever recorded on earth that we know of, you know, since man's been doing it. So he's greater than the weather. Small chimneys are no problem to him. Hot chimneys do not stop him. He's up and down them. He's able to produce billions of gifts every year. He delivered them in one night. He keeps an exact count of where people are. He's got a GPS that you wouldn't be able to think of. He defies all laws. Reindeers fly, pulls a sleigh. I don't know. He must have a bag that never is empty because billions of gifts are pulled out of that bag. He even stops to eat food at every stop where they leave food for him. Doesn't have indigestion. How's all this possible? You see, people don't stop to think of it. They think, well, you know, this is just a cute family tradition. It's something that people have warm feelings in their heart because families get together. They have family reunions. They give gifts, but they're passing on a lie, a false approach, on how to worship God. Psalm 139. Let's notice Psalm 139, beginning in verse 1.

We read this about God. David writes, O Lord, you have searched me. You know me. You know my sitting down, my rising up. You understand my thoughts afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways, for there's not a word of my tongue. But behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. Well, what about Santa? He's pictured as being all-knowing. He's also pictured as being inestion. Now, the Bible says that God is all-knowing. It also says that God is omnipotent. If you want to jot down Revelation 19.6, it is the scripture that shows that God is the omnipotent God. He's the all-powerful, the Almighty God. He's also all-knowing. Now, what does the song say about Santa Claus? He knows when you've been sleeping. He knows when you are awake. He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good. He goes on to say. He knows what every child wants for Christmas. He knows how does he know? He's got his spy ring out. Does NASA work for him? What is up when it comes to him knowing what every child wants? So, he's omniscient.

God is the one who is omniscient. He knows everything about us. He knows how many steps we take, the hairs we have on our head, the thoughts in our minds, the words that we speak. We will all be called into judgment for these things. And there is no other being except the God family that is able to know these things. But Santa Claus is pictured in this way, that he is this way. Now, he's also unchangeable or immutable. Yesterday, today, and forever, Santa is the same. He may get skinny, he may be fat, he may come through a keyhole in some Scandinavian countries. They don't have him coming down the chimney. He goes through a keyhole. Now, that's even more difficult to get through a keyhole. But he never seems to change. He's always happy and jolly. He's always about his work. You can count on Santa no matter what is going on. You can always count on him. Yet, Hebrews 13.8 says God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, not Santa. Santa is pictured as being good, righteous, full of love. All that Santa does is you love. He does what's right. He tries to make sure every child gets a gift.

And yet, the Bible says in James 1.17, I've referred to this several times, that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. That God is the one who gives us gifts. He is supreme, but Santa is pictured as the supreme giver of Christmas. Again, he knows if he's been good or bad. He knows your thoughts. He knows your actions. And so, you know, parents use this to try to coerce their children into being good around this time of year. At least for a few weeks they'll be good. And, you know, maybe they'll get a gift. So, only God knows your motive, your attitude, your approach, whether you've been good or bad. So, you know, these are things that people teach their children. Now, again, this is a lie that is perpetuated. It's a falsehood. And it can be justified in many different ways, but it is not the truth.

Now, Santa is also pictured as being sovereign. He's in complete control. He goes around the world to every house. He's the king of Christmas. He's the one that everybody looks forward to. And as such, he actually overshadows what this day supposedly pictures, which is the birth of Christ. And people spend more time thinking about Him than they do Christ and His birth. Now, having said that, let me hasten to add that Jesus Christ was not born on December the 25th. We know that He was born sometime in the fall, probably around one of the fall holy days in that period of time. Now, when Christmas Eve comes, what do parents say? You better go to bed, because Santa Claus won't come while you're up. So, they go to bed. And there, what are kids looking forward to? Santa is coming to town. You better be ready. You better watch out. And, you know, you better prepare for his coming. So, Santa is coming to reward every boy, every girl, according to their works. According to their works, he's going to reward them. Now, in the Bible, in Revelation 22, verse 12, we find that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is going to come back to this earth, and He is going to reward His servants, those who obey Him. This notice here in Revelation 22, verse 12, Behold, I am coming quickly. My reward is with me to give to everyone according to His works.

So, God will reward us according to our works. But Santa is pictured as doing the same thing for those who are good. And so, this is why I say that it's a blaspheme, or blaspheming God, when this individual is painted the way that he is.

Now, with all of that in mind, let's notice a few scriptures here to conclude. In 1 John chapter 2, beginning in verse 3, 1 John chapter 2 and verse 3, the Bible is quite explicit when it comes to what is the truth, what is not the truth, what is right, and what is not right. Now, verse 3, 1 John 2, 3, Now, by this we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. Verse 4, He who says, I know Him. So, all those who say they know God, you know, they love God. They're living God's way. They're practicing His way. And does not keep His commandments is what? Is a liar, and the truth is not in Him.

If we claim to be Christian, if we claim to, you know, worship Him, but we don't keep His commandments, don't do what He says. We don't worship Him in the way that He tells us to. The Bible clearly says we are liars, and the truth, you don't go to that person to learn the truth. The truth is not in Him. So, He's very clear about that. Remember, truth is about facts, about reality. And so, when somebody stands up and begins to teach something, customs, traditions that are totally opposite to what Jesus Christ taught, and said to worship Him, and how to worship Him, then I don't say this, the Bible does, that He's telling of falsehood. Notice chapter 1 and verse 6. Chapter 1 verse 6.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, so people claim they're going fellowship with God, and walk in darkness, or what is darkness? Light is truth, is right, your mind is open, you can see and understand the truth. Darkness is where you are spiritually blinded.

So, we have fellowship with Him. If we say we do, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. How often do you find truth and lying listed together throughout the Bible? You know, it's amazing. Notice in chapter 1 verse 6, or chapter 2 verse 6, I should say. He who says He abides in Him, himself also to walk, just as He walked.

So, it's clear that we are to walk or to live just as Christ did. Now, Galatians 2.20, we might remember, if Christ lives in us, as Galatians 2.20 says, how would He live today? Well, He's the same today as He was yesterday, and He'll be the same forever, the Bible says. Verse 21, 1 John 2, verse 21, I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. No one teaching lies, and He knows their lies to His children, is of the truth.

Now, in Isaiah chapter 6, one last scripture here, I want you to notice, beginning in verse 2, Isaiah chapter 66 and verse 2. I know it's in here.

Notice what God says, For all these things my hand is made, and all those things exist, says the Lord. But on this one will I look to Him who is of a poor and a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.

Now, what is truth? Well, the Word of God is truth. And so, God looks on those who tremble at His word. They see what His word says, and they tremble before it, and they live by it. But then, notice what He describes going on in society. This was true back then. It's true today. He who kills a bull in God's eyes, or as if he slayed a man. He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he broke a dog's neck. He who offers grain offering, as he who offers swine flesh, or swine's blood, I should say. And He who burns incense, as if He blessed an idol.

Now, why does God say that? Just as they have chosen their own ways, that's why. And their soul delights in their abomination. You see, when God looks down, as He did here, on these Israelites, they would go to the sanctuary. They'd go to the temple. They'd offer up sacrifices to God. And, you know, every Sabbath or whenever, holy days, they would go, offer up their sacrifice. And throughout the rest of the year, they lived their lives as they wanted to. They did not obey God. They did not keep His laws. They did not worship God in the way that He wanted them to do. As it says here, they followed their own ways. Remember, Christ said, I am the way. So He's the way that we are to go. But they followed their own ways. And their soul delighted in their abominations, in things that were abominable to God. So when they offered up their sacrifices, God said He doesn't accept it. It's like offering up pigs on the altar in their blood. And so the same is true today when people say they go to church, they go to the temple to worship God. And they keep customs and they do things that are totally opposite to what God says. He says, I don't accept that. That's not what I accept. Notice verse 4. He summarizes it here.

See, people go to church. Many are very sincere, but they do not follow the way of God. So God says, I will choose their delusions and bring fear on them. Why? Because when I called, no one answered.

The message goes out. The prophets speak. I call. And no one answers. When I spoke, they did not hear. But they did evil before my eyes and chose that in which I do not delight. And that's what our nation, our people, are doing today. We find that the majority of people today are coming up with their own brand of religion, their own hodgepodge of religion. It's sort of like going into the cafeteria and picking this and that and so on, putting it together. And they have come up with how they want to worship God and not following what God says. So brethren, everyone knows that Santa is not factual. They know that he's not a real being except the children.

The children are being lied to. And then one day they learn and they become disillusioned.

Have you ever noticed the word Santa? This has nothing to do with anything, but it's just interesting. You rearrange the words and you know what it spells? Satan. Don't have to add anything to it. Just rearrange the words a little bit. Who is it who wants humans to worship him, to adore him, to look to him, and to follow him and his customs, his ways, and not God's ways? Well, Satan the devil. He wants people to look to him for every good gift.

God's instructions are very clear to all of us. Learn not the way of the heathen.

And simply remember, Jesus Christ is the way. He is the truth. He is the life.