True Worship

Well, brethren, it is that time of the year again, isn't it?

Coming through the lobby and over here into our meeting room, I walked by this tree.

I was sitting out there to greet me.

It is a season of Christmas trees and Christmas decorations, of flying reindeer and mistletoe, of yule logs and Santa Claus and elves, and wrapping paper and gifts and lights and music and movies and television commercials.

I think the most popular commercial in the U.S. right now is the Verizon Wireless Carolers.

They seem to like to play it right when I sit down with my morning coffee in the morning to watch the news. I think that's their prime slot to insert. And if I'm not fast enough to get for the remote and hit the mute button, I find myself waking up at 2 a.m. with this jingle running through my head that I'm trying to shut out. But it's the season, isn't it? It's the season of long lines of doorbuster sales, of Black Friday that starts on Thanksgiving Thursday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, followed by Bounce Check Tuesday, Pay Day Alone Wednesday, and I kind of maybe added a couple on my own. But again, it's the season of activity around us, and with a specific focus. A season where you can't go to the store without getting certain jingles stuck in your head and the store clerk wishing you Merry Christmas. Of course, they're well-intentioned. And we've received the same from our friends, from our co-workers, from our bosses, our employees, our customers. We get the greeting this time of year, Merry Christmas. And I will say that many of these individuals, by and large, have good intentions. You know, I'm certainly not doubting that. For many, the birth of Jesus Christ is given as the reason for this season. And worshiping Him and worshiping God the Father who sent Him is the packaging that many, again, well-intentioned individuals fight to keep wrapped up in the Christmas holiday. Because otherwise, it just becomes another commercialized and merchandised secular holiday. And so this time of the year, we have neighbors that put out a yard sign every year, Keep Christ in Christmas. And remember, you know, the reason for the season. And very well-intentioned individuals, you probably know a few, for them, this holiday is about worship. This time, this season, the symbolism of this season, is about, for them, in many cases, worship. But is it true worship? That's the question I want us to ask and answer today. Is it true worship? Is it true worship of God the Father as He desires to be worshiped? Is it true worship of Jesus Christ? Is it worship at all? And what do God and Christ think about their majesty being attached to such customs? I want to walk through some of this today and answer these questions for us. We're not going to cover anything new, necessarily, but let's just remind ourselves why it is we do the things that we do or don't do certain things as well in our relationship with God. Title for today's message is true worship. True worship, and I would hope that is what we all desire to express to God, a heart of sincere, yes, well-intentioned. I hope everything we do is well-intentioned, but sincere and true worship. Indeed, that must be our focus.

Let's today discover from the pages of the Bible what true worship is and what it is not, and we'll come back around then to evaluate the season that we're in the midst of. We'll see how it compares. We'll hold it up next to the standard of God's Word, and we'll see how it compares to the standard of true worship. So today, let's begin in the book of John.

John chapter 4.

John chapter 4, the setting here, is a conversation that takes place between Jesus Christ and a Samaritan woman at the well. And you recall the Samaritans were interesting people. The Samaritans claimed to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they rejected many of the teachings of the Old Testament. They refused to worship in the place where the Jews worshiped at the temple, instead they had their alternate place of worship, and the Samaritans mixed pagan customs with the worship of true God. And so as you walk into some of the gospel accounts, you'll find references such as, well, the Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans. There was actually a clear divide between them in terms of their relationship and their worship of God. So we come to John chapter 4 then, and you have Jesus Christ at the well engaged in this conversation with the Samaritan woman, which actually is something that would have been quite out of the ordinary. And in fact, she said, why are you talking to me, right, a Samaritan woman? And yet there's some very important points that Jesus is bringing to her as he confronts her with the reality of who he is and what God expects of his true worshipers. So let's pick it up here in John chapter 4 in verse 19. John 4 verse 19, the woman said to Jesus, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. You know, they've just gone through this conversation. He just told her about her life, about her struggles, about some of these things that, frankly, were quite personal and intimate to her. And he said, you know, if you knew who I was and who it was that said to you, give me a drink, you would have asked that I would have given you living water. So she's starting to put two and two together here, and she says, I perceive your prophet. And of course, in that she spoke correctly. Verse 20, she says, our fathers worshipped on this mountain, Mount Gerizin, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place for one ought to worship. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. In other words, there's a time coming where your worship of God is not going to be location specific. Right? The Jews say, we direct our worship towards the temple. That's where the sacrifices took place. That's where the pilgrimage feast brought you up as the temple. That's the central focus of worship. You know, that's where God's presence was behind the veil and the Holy of Holies between the carobim above the mercy seat. So you prayed toward that place. That was the Jews' focus. Again, the Samaritans, Mount Gerizin was their place of focus. But Jesus is saying, you know, actually there's coming a time where it's not going to be location specific in this way in terms of your worship towards God. Verse 22, he says, you worship what you do not know. And that's a very important point to ponder when it comes to true worship. True worship begins with knowing God, with knowing who He is, what it is He expects, because if we don't know those things, how can we worship Him in a way that is pleasing to Him?

It begins with knowing who He is and having this relationship with Him. Otherwise, we can't possibly fulfill what God desires. So he says, you worship what you do not know. But he says, we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. Reference of the fact that Jesus was the son of David, of Jewish descent. And as the Messiah, then, salvation came forth from the Jews. Verse 23, but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must, and I've underlined the word must in my Bible, must worship in spirit and in truth.

And so, brethren, God is looking for a different way to be worshiped than, again, over here in this location, over there in that location. And according to Jesus' own words, He's seeking after people who will worship Him in such a manner that spirit and truth form the foundation for that relationship.

Understand that through Jesus Christ and then the covenant that came by His sacrifice, temple worship is no longer about a physical building. All right? It's about the fact that we have God's Holy Spirit, that you are the temple of God, and then God dwells in you by that spirit and your relationship with Him can be spiritual and not specifically location-based. And our ability to connect with Him and with His Son on that level, on that spiritual level, in the meeting of the spirit, that is where our worship springs from, with truth forming the basis of that relationship.

So that's what God is seeking. Okay? That's what He is looking for from His true worshipers, a spiritual relationship based in truth. And the worship towards Him springs forth from the foundation of truth and no other place. Good intentions might be the place where all of us started out in our worship of God. And frankly, we must have good intentions. I hope everything we do towards God in our worship is based and includes, I'll say includes, good intentions. Certainly we must have those. But there's a lot of people out there with good intentions putting the star on top of the Christmas tree. Good intentions can't be the substitute for truth in our worship of God. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. An absolute foundation of truth is what God is looking for. Otherwise, if we worship Him according to what feels good, according to our own desires, according to what is driven by good intentions, oftentimes it ends up being something different altogether. And so the question then comes to us, what is truth? If that's to be the foundation of our worship of God, what is truth? What's the source? Where do we go to know how to worship God and what He desires and what indeed He's looking for? What is truth? Well, Jesus Christ answered that question for us quite clearly, final night before His crucifixion. He's praying to the Father. And let's go to John chapter 17, and let's listen in on His prayer to His Father. John chapter 17, John chapter 17, and picking up here in verse 14. Again, Jesus was focused on this night. This was last night in the flesh on the earth. And if you think about Him knowing what was now coming before Him in terms of the crucifixion, His focus was intense. And these were important concepts to Him. John chapter 17 in verse 14, speaking of His disciples, He says, I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Understand, brethren, living the Word of God is going to make us different than almost everyone else in the world around us. Keeping the Sabbath day, keeping the Holy Days, doing what it is that we do as the people of God, as opposed to, say, the holidays, the traditions of the world around us is actually going to make us different.

And it's going to make us stand apart. And at times, it may even make us hated, just as Jesus Christ was hated. But you know that's okay. It just means we're in good company, and indeed our reward will come just as His came. But verse 15, He carries on, He says, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. And so when we're looking for truth, and the truth of how God wants to be worshipped, the Bible, His word, this is the absolute standard and no other that we go to for determining what it is that God desires from His true worshippers. There's not any other source, there's not man's traditions, it's not our own good intentions or whatever else might feel right, it is God's word, again, that go-to source of understanding for us to know what is truth and what is God's desire to be the foundation of our worship. And as the people of God, we are to be sanctified as Jesus prayed, sanctified, set apart for holy purpose by the truth. The truth will make you different. The truth will set you apart. I've been sanctified since I was a child by this truth. As in, I remember, you know, we have kids, certainly on the webcast, we have kids in elementary school. I remember going to school, going to elementary school this time of year, and not participating in the art class because of all the art projects going on there, and not participating in the music class this time of the year because of all the songs that were being sung then for the school festival. I spent a lot of time in the library this time of year, or even at times in a chair by myself in the hallway with a book. Yeah, I was set apart, if we want to say, by the truth because I wasn't engaging in these things. And, you know, sometimes it was uncomfortable, and sometimes you felt a little awkward, and sometimes your friends were kind of like, well, what's wrong with you? Why don't you do this? And, you know, even as a child, you kind of figure out how do I explain that? How do I show what it is that I know why I'm doing?

But again, we're set apart, and it's not always easy. But in the end, God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. And the end result of doing the things that truly please Him and remaining steadfast in the end, the result will far exceed anything maybe we think we miss out on.

You know, I see the world around us. I see commercials. I see TV shows, various things.

There's a presentation. There's a picture of this wonderful joy, and I'm not trying to knock that per se. I'm just saying, don't feel like you're missing out. God has called us to something incredible through His way, by His standard He's laid before us, and we should never feel as in some way we're missing because we're not following the ways of the world. God has called us to truth, and the truth will set you free. King David was a man after God's own heart, and he came to understand as well the value of God's truth in his life, and walking according to it and declaring it. And you can go all throughout the Psalms. David spoke many times of the truth of God and the blessing it is to life. I'll just reference a few for you. Psalm chapter 119 verse 142, because again, if you're going to worship Him in truth, know what the foundation of that truth is. And David understood. Psalm 119 verse 142, David says, your law is truth.

Your law is truth. Again, we have that recorded for us here. Psalm 119 verse 151, he says, all your commandments are truth. All your commandments are truth. In Psalm 119 verse 160, David says, the entirety of your word is truth. So it's not like, oh, I picked this because I like this, but let's just forget this part here. That's kind of inconvenient, or, you know, I don't really care for that. David says the entirety of your word is truth, and that's rather than to be the foundation and the basis of our worship. If we're going to worship God according to that standard, then we're going to have to be looking here to His word. Right? We don't look to the world for the truth. We look to God's word for the truth of how it is He does and does not want to be worshiped.

Psalm 145 verse 18 says, the Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth. He's near to them.

So if we want to draw near to God and have God draw near to us, it can't be man's tradition. It can't be just what feels good. It has to be the truth of God's word by which we call out to Him, live before Him, and worship. And indeed, He will draw near to us in response. We can't just make up our own rules.

Again, there's times we have... we have traditions. In our house, we have tradition. As the Sabbath comes along, we have Friday night dinner with our family. That's a tradition that we have, but it's not something we're building into it to somehow circumvent what it is God commanded. We're actually trying to more fully fulfill as a family what He's given us in the blessing of this day. But we can't just make up our own rules or add our own things that would in some way make it more palatable to us or something different than what God's directed. You know, the Pharisees tried that, if you'll recall. The Pharisees attached a bunch of their own man-made traditions to the law in an attempt to preserve righteousness. Okay, so good intent.

I think 100%. Let's give that a good intent. You know, as a nation, Judah, we broke God's laws, we went into idolatry, hauled out of the land, promised land, captive in Babylon. Now we've returned, and we don't ever want to end up there again. So let's build a hedge around the law so that we will not break the law again and wind up in the same place. Good intentions, I suppose, we could give that. It was an attempt to preserve righteousness, but these were ceremonial washings and traditions that represented to them and came to represent righteous acts of worship.

These traditions were elevated to that level. And what was Jesus' response? Let's go to Mark chapter 7. Again, we're focusing on, again, if you're building in things into worship, that somehow makes it different, makes it, you know, apart from what God has given us, it becomes a problem. Mark chapter 7, verse 6 and 7, again, Jesus Christ's words. And He answered, and He said to them, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written? This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Jesus said these traditions, these customs, were nothing more than vain and worthless worship.

Why? Well, because they were apart from what God had commanded. They were simply add-on traditions of man, and therefore they didn't amount to anything according to righteousness. In fact, they often took away from the commandments of God. Their traditions became elevated above God's commands. Verse 8 says, For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, and washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do. He said to them, All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. And you see, that's the danger in all of this, brethren. It's rejecting the commandments of God in favor of the traditions of man. And Jesus says, that's vain worship.

That doesn't honor God. That doesn't bring Him glory. That doesn't draw Him near to you. God's law is truth. David said God's commandments are truth. His entire word is truth.

And so that's the basis of our true worship of Him. And whatever man tries to add to you or to take away from it, it's not of God. It's not of God. God's Word is perfect, as He is expressed and given, and we must live according to the truth of God. We can't dismiss God's Sabbath days and say, well, Sunday's a better day. Right? This is God's Sabbath. It was a day designed for worship, for praise, for drawing near to Him as He has commanded. So we can't dismiss that. We can't dismiss the Holy Days, which He designed specifically again for worship. We can't replace them with the traditions of men or with other days or combine them with the customs associated with the worship of other gods. Well, how do they worship their God? I think maybe our God will like that. Let's just take that and bring it over here and lift it up to Him. That does not bring Him glory and is not founded in truth. Leviticus chapter 23, you can go read that chapter at another time, but it's the feasts of the Lord. Right? These are my feasts, God says. They're mine, His commanded feast, His days. That's what He's given us for our benefit and blessing, but for the worship of Him. God is Spirit. And those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.

That's what He's seeking. That's what Jesus said. He is seeking those true worshipers, those who would give themselves to Him in that way. Deuteronomy chapter 12.

Let's go to there next. Deuteronomy 12. Here we have specific instructions which God gave to Israel just before they entered the Promised Land. Again, they're to be the model nation to the world. They're to live this way, live it well, show all of mankind what are the blessings and benefits for following God, such that then the other nations would say, ah, we want your God to be our God. That was the intent, and that will be again one day. But as they're getting ready, then, to come into the Promised Land, God gives them instructions that, frankly, go to the core of our discussion today. Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 28 says, Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God. And we're saying it's going to be a blessing.

And interestingly, other places in the Bible show that obedience is actually a form of worship, that when we respond to God, and it's more than just rote obedience, okay, it has to be a heart in this, but coming before God on the Sabbath, singing praises to Him, fellowshiping before Him, and lifting Him up in our praise is a form of worship, but we do it through obedience. So He said, you go into the Promised Land, and you keep these things in obedience. It'll be a blessing.

Try me now in this, right? Malachi 3.10 God says, see if I won't pour out blessings upon you, because of your obedience. Verse 29 says, and when the Lord your God cuts off from before you, the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them, and you dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you're not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, how did these nations serve their God?

I will also do likewise, like, oh, that's kind of a cool practice and custom, and it wasn't like necessarily you were going to chase after their God, but maybe you wanted to take that nifty little custom of whatever it was. Sexual and morality was huge among the worship of foreign gods, and that was a snare to Israel time and time again. So many things they tried to pull over, but still attach it to the worship of the true God. God says, don't do that. Verse 31, you shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abomination to the Lord which he hates they have done, even to their gods, for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Just unimaginable things. But God says, I don't want you learning the customs of the people around you and bringing them in and adding them to what it is I gave you to do, and turn it around and expect that to be honorable worship of me, as the Lord commands.

That's how we worship before him, and it is truth that brings him glory. It's actually the blending of these customs with the worship of the true God, which is a practice known as syncretism.

And God hates that. He absolutely hates that.

Go back to the golden calf, Mount Sinai. We're not going to turn there, but Israel comes out of Egypt. They brought with them an understanding of the customs of that land. They come up to Mount Sinai. Moses is on the mountain. Where's Moses? Well, I don't know. He's not been here a number of days. Make us a God to go before us. And so they demand of Aaron, and this golden calf is constructed, and it's presented. And then they say, hey, this is your God, Israel, that brought you out of Egypt. And Aaron says, tomorrow is a feast unto the Lord. And then, okay, we have this idol, but let's just somehow direct as a feast towards the Lord. It was encapsulating together something that God said he hates, directed in worship of him. And you can go to Exodus 32. You can read through the account and see what God's response was. He's not favorable to those things, and Israel paid a heavy price, frankly, time and time again for the syncretism and the false worship they brought before the Lord their God. Verse 32 says, whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it nor take away from it. That's Deuteronomy 1232. So God, his word is perfect. He says, I've given you all that you need for your worship of me. Don't change anything. Don't make up your own rules. Don't shave a little bit off the edges just to accommodate what you really want to do. He says, be careful to do just exactly as I have laid out before you. Good attention should be part of our worship, right? We desire to please God. And so those intentions should help to motivate our worship, but good intentions alone or good intentions, for example, regarding Christmas and Easter and certain other holidays of man's devising that are meant to worship God or honor him, frankly, they don't measure up because they're not according to the truth of God's word.

And they're not in line with what he has declared that he desires. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.

So again, this is the season we're surrounded with, with this expression of worship, this expression of praise, but it's tied up in so many other things that look attractive and they look exciting.

But how does it stack up against God's word? Sadly, the Israelites often failed to heed this specific warning from God, and time and time and time again their fascination with the nations around them and their religious practices actually were a snare to Israel, and God gave them repeated warnings. In fact, one of them in the book of Jeremiah, I do want to take a look at, Jeremiah chapter 10, God says, don't learn the ways of the nations around you. And here he expresses some of what it is that would be if they were to follow a snare unto them. Jeremiah chapter 10, in verse 1.

Jeremiah 10 verse 1 says, 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. Do not learn the way of the nations around you. Those had other standards, other customs outside of Israel. Do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them, for the customs of the people are futile. Okay, so they're out there worshiping the sun, worshiping the moon, worshiping the stars, worshiping the movements of heaven, these nations around them, putting the horoscopes in the newspaper, you know, what's your future? What's your fortune? How the sun-moon stars aligning these things. God says, don't even go down that path. Don't learn the ways of them. Doesn't bring glory to me. Verse 3.

We're talking idolatry here, setting up an image and worshiping it as God.

Again, God says, my people stay away from those things. They cannot do any good. Verse 6.

For all among the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like you. It is actually God, the creator of the universe, the one who has actually hung the sun, moon, and stars in their place. Keeps it all in balance. He was the one who was worthy of this worship and praise. And there is none like you. Verse 8. But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish, a wooden idol is a worthless doctrine. Silver is beaten into plates. It is brought from Tarshish and gold from Eufaz. The work of the craftsmen in the hands of the metalsmith, blue and purple, are their coloring. They are all the work of skillful men. So even though the account here specifically is referring to objects of idolatrous worship, God said, do not learn the ways of the gentiles. That incorporates their customs, their worship practices, and the way that they would put their traditions ahead of the true worship of God. He says, don't learn them, don't dabble in them, don't utilize them in their worship of your worship of me. I am the God, the creator God of the universe. And indeed, we all ought to recognize that He deserves to be worshiped as He commands.

So again, brethren, why don't we celebrate then Christmas as the people of God today? And why isn't this holiday a part of our worship of God the Father and Jesus Christ? Our primary reason, and we could all explain this, I hope, at its most elementary level, the primary reason, by and far, is that these customs associated with the observance of this holiday are rooted in historically pagan festivals honoring false gods. And God has said, you shall not worship me according to these customs. And again, God, who is above all, has the right to declare how He will be worshiped.

When I was a child, there's another memory that comes to mind of the library. This time, not the school library, but the public library. I have memories of going there with my mom for hours on end because she was researching. She pulled these big volumes of encyclopedias off the shelves and was taking notes because the church had taught some things pertaining to the holidays of the world and the customs and the foundation of the traditions surrounding Christmas and Easter and Halloween. And the word was, well, don't take our word for it. You know, go and prove it for yourself. I remember spending hours with my mom at the library. She was researching the history of many of these customs and showed and proved to herself that, yes, they indeed go back into pre-Christianity, into the pagan customs of the worship of false gods.

And they've now been brought around and incorporated into what people express as their worship to the true God. God says, don't have a part in such things. An example of that would be December 25th. Why December 25th? Why is this date of relevance or importance to the Christmas holiday? You know, the Bible gives no date for the birth of Jesus Christ.

However, it does indicate that it could not have been during December 25th or, frankly, this time of the year. We actually believe it occurred at some point around the fall festival seasons, but a date is not given. And so, December 25th actually became involved in another way.

The Roman Empire was the dominant power in Christ's day, and it expanded its reach far and wide. So we say, how did this become tied in with Christianity? Well, the Roman Empire had this way of incorporating the many peoples and cultures and territory into their system, and they allowed them to keep their religion and their practices as long as you could live in peace and be a part of the empire in a way that was productive. You know, the Jews can continue to be Jews. It's why the early church didn't come under persecution from the empire very early on. It just appeared to be another sect of Judaism. All right, so these various cultures were allowed to be blended into the Roman Empire and to keep their religious identities. One such assimilated custom was the worship of Mithras, the Persian god of light. Mithras was said to be born on December 25th. Okay, and it's interesting when you go out there and you research Evergreen Tree, you research December 25th, solstice celebrations, sun gods, many things, you find these spread throughout multiple cultures and what you come to find actually is there's a foundation farther back than even the existence of any of these religious practices. But in terms of coming into what we call Christianity, this was the point. And Mithras was the Persian god of light. Mithras was said to be born on December 25th around the time of the winter solstice. So Mithraism, in its influence, was spreading rapidly through the Roman Empire. Right alongside that was Christianity. So these were the two main waves of religion in the Roman Empire. Come to the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine around 300 AD. You had Christianity, which frankly looked quite different than the religion of the apostles in the early church. Okay, so this is a double negative. You know, it's already on a great slide, but you had so-called Christianity and you had Mithraism and they were the competing religions in the Roman Empire. And right alongside that was Constantine's desire now to come in and solidify his base. You can't have a divided empire, especially when you're seeking to hold for power, so you need to bring these religions together at some point. And he needed to unite the people, so even though he had been a sun worshiper, that was Constantine, he was a sun worshiper, but his empire was practically split in two, he chose Christianity as the universal religion of the Roman Empire, and the worship of Mithras became converted to the worship of Jesus Christ, and hence December 25th became the date of Christ mass. And it is indeed that to this day. Today, brethren, that is syncretism. That is the blending of the worship of false gods in an attempt to blend it with the worship of the true god, and God says he hates that. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. What about the Christmas tree?

Getting out in the lobby. Nice evergreen out there with some ornaments hanging from it and some packages underneath. I don't know, I kind of, I'm tempted to pick one up and shake it. Are these just decorations? There's really something in here, but I just didn't even want to go near. But they have this tree out there, right? So what is the focus, what is the history of the Christmas tree? It's the central focus in many ways to this holiday celebration. When we go back and look at the origins of the Christmas tree, it's easy to find that as a symbol it predates Christianity as well. And if you want to go on the internet or look at old encyclopedias, again it's out there.

It's easy to find. I was on, well, a couple, three different encyclopedias of Britannica.com here this last week, just looking through various things. It's there. But this tree, this evergreen, if you follow the origins back again, it's across multiple cultures. Most often you'll find the evergreen was seen to represent eternal life because it remained green year-round. You know, it doesn't shed its leaves. It's this beautiful, beautiful green tree year-round. You'll find it's used at the time of the winter solstice celebrations to honor the rebirth of the unconquered God. And you'll also find that it's used as a symbol for the worship of various other gods through various cultures as well. And again, like December 25th and so many of the other traditions that are tagged to this holiday, you look out there and you go, why is it, you know, history, why is it spread across all these different cultures where there had to be actually a common point of foundation? And frankly, there is. Let's go to Genesis chapter 10.

Genesis chapter 10, the source of this false religious system and the atmosphere that was created to promote these things, began very early in human history just on this side of the flood.

At least as we have it here brought forward to modern day. Genesis chapter 10.

Let's see the source of where some of this false religious worship sprang. Genesis chapter 10 and beginning in verse 8, Cush begot Nimrod and he began to be a mighty one on the earth, Nimrod, the great grandson of Noah. So you don't have to come very far down the line before things start springing forth in opposition to God. Verse 9, he was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore, it is said, like Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Arak, Aekad, and Kelna in the land of Shinar. The word before, as in a mighty hunter before the Lord, can be used to mean against or in defiant of. And that was Nimrod. He was in defiance of God. And in fact, the name Nimrod in the Hebrew means we shall rebel. We shall rebel. Now imagine naming your child back just a few generations after the flood gives you some insight into his mother as well. Nimrod established a false religion system on this side of the flood, and it was a system, again, established in open defiance of God. I want to read to you a quote from the UCG Bible commentary on this point. And it says, quote, Babel and its empire were founded by Nimrod, a rebel against God, based on the evidence of secular history. It is apparent that he and his wife, Simaramus, who by the way was also his mother, so this gives you a little insight into the twisted mindset then that brought forth a number of these pagan practices. His wife, Simaramus, also his mother, are the originators of idolatry in the post-flood world, evidently resurrecting a number of false concepts present before the flood, adding their own embellishments. They thereby set themselves up as the greatest human enemies of God's true servants, and incredibly they are the fountainhead of much of the idolatry in the world today. You know, fountainhead, you think of, in my mind, I think of like this, this artesian well bubbling out of the ground, this fountain, and it's just running out everywhere. You know, they were the source from which this false religious system sprang on this side of the flood. But understand what happened in Babel and then the confounding of the languages and how this was, from that point, it was taken out to all parts of the earth. So what we find here is that Nimrod and Cimaramis propagated this, again, false religious system. And in this religion, the sun and the serpent were worshiped because both were seen to enlighten. And the sun, which enlightened by giving, you know, physical light to the earth, and you had the serpent, which, from their perspective, enlightened, enlightened mankind by providing them spiritual enlightenment in opposition to God. And this system was set up then as an environment in which the evergreen tree, as a symbol of worship, was able to be spread. Like I said, there's certain things you go back in history and at first it was interesting to me because you read this source and said, well, this is where this came from. And then over here it says, well, this is where it came from. And you find out, you know, it was in this culture and this culture and this culture and this culture and it worshipped all these different gods.

There's a source from where it sprang. And the evergreen tree is no different, and it originated upon the death of an emerald. I'm going to quote to you an article titled The Plain Truth About Christmas by Herbert Armstrong. And he says, quote, For many ancient writings considerable is learned of this man who started the great organized apostasy from God that has dominated the world until now. After Nimrod's untimely death, his mother, wife, Cimaramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprung up overnight from a dead tree stump which symbolized the springing forth into new life of the dead Nimrod. Each anniversary she claimed of his birth, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25th was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree, end quote. So you have Nimrod. You had Cimaramis, and they were the founders in what has been labeled the Babylonian mystery religion. And it's an ancient mystery religion system where symbolism was used in their worship. Because understand, this is coming out then in opposition to God's true worship. So what do you do? You use symbolism so that those who from the outside didn't understand, you could still conduct your secret worship. Okay, people who were on the inside and followed and knew what the symbols were understood what they were worshiping, but to the outside it would be a mystery. It was the mystery religion, and the evergreen tree became the symbol for the resurrected Nimrod in that mystery religion.

I'm going to quote to you now from a book by Alexander Hislop titled The Two Babylons, page 98. I thought of bringing it and reading a number of quotes today, but actually I would need my magnifying glass. It's very small print, so I just blew up one into my notes for you today. Page 98, The Two Babylons, he says, quote, Now the eulog is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun god, but cut down by his enemies. Again, the sun god has carried forward all the way through man's history of false religions. The Christmas tree is Nimrod, revived, the slain god, come to life again. And so you have Nimrod, who was worshiped as the resurrected sun god through the symbolism of the evergreen, again because the evergreens are green year-round. They don't lose their leaves, they don't appear to die, and they seem to represent eternal life and immortality in these religions. And as the time passed and people were spread out over the earth, the traditions were spread abroad as well. And so then we come forward in history through cultures, through false gods, through various religions, and we can find many examples of the evergreen tree used in the worship of gods, in the worship of the sun, the worship of the sun god, small g, again wrapped up in many different forms and customs. For example, the evergreen tree was used by the Greeks to worship their god, Adonia, who allegedly was brought back to life by a serpent after having been slain. It's interesting how many times the serpent shows up as well in these false religions down through time, and just consider at the end of the age the Babylonian system which will dominate the earth, the serpent again will be the central focus of worship. Rather than it's never gone away, it permeates literally everything around us.

The Egyptians, the Egyptians worshiped the evergreen too. When the winter solstice arrived, they brought green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over death.

Likewise, the Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a feast called Saturnalia in honor of the god of agriculture. They decorated their houses with evergreens, with lights, and exchanged gifts.

You know, the list can go on and on and on, and it's out there. You can find it in the encyclopedia. It's on the web, although I've noticed some of the newer references are pretty careful in trying to trying to dismiss some of these things, but it is a matter of historical record. But if we jump forward to the modern time, we see the evergreen tree used as a symbol of the worship of Jesus Christ, again on December 25th on a day called Christmas.

Brethren, the Christmas tree is an excellent example of how syncretism has crept its way into modern-day Christianity until the worship of God is unrecognizable from the truth. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth, and this word must be the foundation for our worship of Him. Again, God is declared, you shall not inquire after their God, saying, how did the nation serve their gods? I will do likewise. You shall not serve the Lord your God in that way. And your studies could go on and on and on.

You could take time. You could go through the Yule Log, through symbolism of the mistletoe, through the 12 Days of Christmas, through Santa Claus, and so many other symbols that are attached to this day. The documented origin of each one of them are, frankly, easily findable if people would simply go and look. So we come to our time today, right? We come to the New Testament church, those who are called to worship God in spirit and truth, and some in the world around us. And so-called Christianity would wrongly assume that the Old Testament prohibitions on this mixing of ideas of worship, the God, was done away at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you know, nailed to the cross.

We're under grace, and we can worship God with our good intentions and what feels right and what brings us peace. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Second Corinthians chapter 6. Let's go into the New Testament church for just a couple of passages here. Second Corinthians chapter 6, we have the Apostle Paul actually defending the importance of not mixing, again, the light with the darkness, the pagan with the good, in terms of our worship with God. Corinth was a pagan city. It was a port city.

Kind of imagine what it was like down at the docks of Corinth. They had their temples, they had their temple prostitution. Actually, a recorded point of history I ran across quite a while ago said the first billboard that they've actually noted, the first billboard in history, was for the temple prostitution in Corinth. So this was a Gentile church called Out of That Society, and God said, you will be separate. And Paul says, don't bring your customs, don't bring your religions, don't worship God as they do. This is to be a pure worship. Second Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 14 says, do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with dark? And what accord has Christ with belial? What part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? You know, one of the most disgusting things to God that happened in the Old Testament was that the worship of Baal was dragged into the temple of God. Bring it all the way to the New Testament. Paul says, what part, again, does idols have with the temple of God? For you are the temple of the living God.

As God has said, I will dwell in them, walk among them, I will be their God, they shall be my people. Therefore, come out of them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Instead of renaming some of the pagan customs as Christian celebrations, or allowing the new members of the Church of Corinth to kind of bring in their old traditions into the church, the Apostle Paul commanded them to leave behind all these forms of worship that do not honor God.

What place does the pagan have in terms of worship and symbolism and culture with the word of truth?

And the point is none. You are the temple of God. And so how we honor God the Father, how we worship Him, how we honor Jesus Christ today is important. And clearly people want to, and clearly we should.

So what does God's Word actually say? His word of truth say regarding this honor, regarding what it is He's given us to actually do. Let's wrap up today in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Again, the reason for the season, right, is honoring Jesus Christ. If that's the reason for the season around us, what is it that we are to recognize actually in remembrance of Him? This is actually part of my answer if I have time, and someone says, hey, Merry Christmas. This is where I come. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 23, the Apostle Paul, he says, For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. Okay, we're referring to, and we read this during the Passover. Verse 24, And we had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take ye, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Verse 25, In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. And so here we have specific instructions from Christ himself as to how exactly he wanted his people to remember him.

Right? To honor him is through the Passover, an annual reminder of his sacrifice in the covenant we made with God at baptism. And he said, Do this in remembrance of me. And we do so today.

And like I said, this is part of my answer. If someone says, Hey, Merry Christmas, Paul!

If I've got the time, I'll slow them down a little bit. I say, Well, thank you for the appreciate the sentiment, but I actually don't observe Christmas. But lest they think I don't believe in Jesus Christ, or I'm an atheist, or something like that, I'll say, Actually, we observed the Passover, which Christ said to do in remembrance of me. And it can be that simple of an answer. And frankly, then on my way, if they don't have any follow up questions. But this is my answer. Brethren, how we worship God is important. And how we honor his Son, Jesus Christ, is important as well. God's Word is the standard of truth for how we must conduct our worship. The Christmas origins in the festival and traditions and everything that surrounds that cannot be traced back to the practices of the early New Testament church, nor to the apostles, nor to Jesus Christ, nor to the Old Testament, you know. Actually, if you find anything in the Bible that seems sort of related to these traditions from everything I've seen, it speaks against picking up such things. In fact, Christmas is not found anywhere in the Bible.

Celebrating Jesus Christ's birthday was never commanded or even suggested by God to be done, nor is this his birthday. What God has done is he has given us his Sabbath day, this day of worship, this day of rest, this day to come together and praise and honor him through obedience. And we sing our songs of praise, and indeed that is true worship. He's given us his Sabbath day. He's given us his Holy Feast days, and he's given us his Holy Spirit, which guides us into all truth, and it connects us in a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ and one another spiritually. You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you.

God has given us everything we need in order to honor their majesty through obedience, through worship, through praise. Brethren, let us never forget God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship, must, in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship him.

And so when we base the foundation of our relationship with him guided by his Spirit in this word, and we respond accordingly, it will indeed be true worship.