Why We Do Not Observe Christmas

Well, of course, here we are assembled here on Christmas Day. It's happened to fall on a weekly Sabbath this year, but we're not here for the purpose of observing Christmas, obviously. But today, of course, Christmas observance has become a very major part of our culture, and not only a major part of our culture, but also a major part of our economy.

The annual bottom line profit and loss statement for many companies depends on the business that they get in the month leading up to Christmas. So it's very, very big, and for our culture, as far as prosperity is concerned, economic bottom line. So a lot of people today, you know, they really don't...not that big a deal, so how it might have originated, as was pointed out in the sermonette and so on, because whether it has anything to do with the birth of Christ or not, basically a lot of businesses rely on the sales that they have leading up to Christmas in order to make a profit for the year. And for those who are religious, it is sincerely in their minds a very religious holiday, a very sacred holiday, the so-called observance of the birth of Christ. And any effort was made to do away with this observance. That would be met with a great deal of resistance, probably by both those who are religious and those who are not.

In fact, that kind of resistance actually happened back in early New Testament church during the time of the Apostle Paul in the case of the worship of Diana the Ephesians. Let's turn and look at that. It's kind of interesting to look at it. It's recorded back in Acts 19. I'll begin in verse 23 of Acts 19 here, introducing the subject today. Verse 23 of Acts 19 says, About that time there arose a great commotion about the way of Christ that was being proclaimed and taught by the Apostle Paul. What was Paul teaching that was stirring up great commotion? And why was this stirring up such a great commotion? Verse 24, Well, a certain man named Demetrius, who was a silversmith, he made silver shrines of Diana and he brought no small prophet to the craftsmen. Now, Paul was in the city of Ephesus at this particular time, as it tells us in verse 1 of Acts 19. And the city of Ephesus contained one of the ancient wonders of the world. Seven wonders of the ancient world, I should say. It had one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Had a great statue to the goddess Diana, whom the whole world worshiped. Also, she was called Athena by different names, such as Athena or Astart or Estar. Her worship was not only sacred religiously, but it was also sacred economically, because it says here, brought no small prophet to the craftsmen. And it was towards the major part of their economy and their economic prosperity, even as observance of Christmas is very much a part of our economics prosperity in the bottom line for many businesses today. Going on to verse 25, he called them together with the workers, as Demetrius did.

Workers of similar occupations were also making a profit from things they sold in relation to the worship of Diana. And they said, men, you know that we have our posterity by this trade. You know, our economic prosperity depends on this.

So, verse 26, it goes on, Moreover, you see that in here that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia. It wasn't just Ephesians that made prosperity. This was the whole world was making some prosperity and observance, involved in the observance of the worship of Diana. Not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia. This Paul has persuaded and turned away many people making this radical statement, saying that they are not gods which are made by hands. I mean, that should be obvious that that was the case, that they are not gods that are made by hands. But it didn't matter whether or not Paul's statement was true or whether God's were substantiated or not. Obviously, this statue of Diana was made by man's hands, so that's what he's referring to. But what mattered was how it was going to affect their bottom line, their prosperity, in this particular case. Verse 27, So not only is this trade of ours in danger falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised, and her magnificence is destroyed, from whom all Asia and the whole world worships. Even as much of the world worships Christmas today, even people who don't necessarily have religious beliefs are are no longer necessarily Christians. Now, for those who were religious, the worship of Diana was very sacred religiously. Thus, it didn't matter how her worship originated, who she really represented, and you actually want to trace the origin of her worship, you can trace it all the way back to the Garden of Eden. And that's another story. Let's go back the time of the Apostle Paul. What was their reaction to Paul's message going on in verse 28 of Acts 19?

Now, when they heard this, they were all full of wrath, and they cried out, saying, Great is Diana the Ephesians. So the whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed into the theater with one accord. They ran into the theater that was at Ephesus. Now, Evelyn and I, we've been at that theater. We went on the Mediterranean cruise in 1989, probably some of you did also, and that theater is still there, still remains. In fact, we had a group picture there in 1989 at that theater at Ephesus. But it's interesting that there's nothing at all left of this one of the seven wonders of the ancient world that was there at the harbor in Ephesus, this statue to the great goddess Diana. There's nothing left there. I know the guy pointed out said over there that's where that statue was, but there's nothing left there. It's just land, not even a rock or anything. It's been totally destroyed. There's not a trace left. For many people today think it's very strange that we would be Christians and not observe Christmas or celebrate the birthday of Christ. Thus today, we want to look at why we don't observe Christmas, both from the perspective of history and from the perspective of God's Word. A title of my sermon here then this afternoon is, Why We Don't Observe Christmas. First, let's look at the history of Christ's birth, and that's a very, very short and very brief history. There's not much there. In this case, Christ's birth, and in the case of Christ's birth, I should say, the biblical perspective and history are real the same. It doesn't take long to expound on because in the Bible there is no record or any statement that tells us which day Christ was born. You can't find it in God's Word. In fact, it's very interesting you go through all the men in the Bible, and with one possible exception, the date of birth of... there's no dates to birth of anybody given in the Bible. I guess you might say that one possible exception to that would be a prophecy concerning the birth of Isaac, where God told Abraham and Sarah that on this very day, one year from now, this son is going to be born, but that was to fulfill a miraculous prophecy, showing that God can do things miraculously and fulfill His Word and promises. It wasn't to celebrate that particular birthday, but that's the only one that maybe you could even... if I have a hint of what day the person might have been born was the case of Isaac. But the Bible says very little, even about the birth of Christ or that time, even about the time of the birth of Christ in the entire New Testament, only Matthew and Luke even touch on the birth of Christ at all, and neither of them give the date of His birth.

Let's go and see what Matthew records. Let's go to Matthew's account, Matthew chapter 1, and it doesn't tell us when Christ was born. Matthew chapter 1, I'll begin in... I'll just look at the last two verses here in Matthew chapter 1, beginning in verse 24. So, then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and he he took Mary to be his wife, because she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. But then, after he took her to wife, he did not know her, he did not have any relationship with her, until she brought forth her firstborn son. So she remained divergent until that time, until after Jesus was born. But of course, after that, she did have several children. She didn't remain a virgin. She had several other children by her husband, Joseph, after that. And they called his name, he called his name Jesus. Going on in Matthew 2, Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. Doesn't say how many, just his wise men from the east. Doesn't say where, but it's not hard to figure out. Go back and look at a map of that time, you'll know exactly where they came from. Saying, where is he was born? King of the Jews. But again, they came after he was born. In fact, verse 11 tells us that by the time they got there, he was already back in his parents' home, and he was a young child. So they got there after he was born. And there's no notification here as to exactly when Christ was born. Noted at Christ's birth is given. It's interesting to ask who these wise men were and how many there were, where they came from. Again, like I say, it's not hard to find out if you go back and get a map of that particular time. And you have to, interestingly, also ask why were they coming to Jerusalem to be looking for he was born king of the Jews. That's part of the story as well. But it's interesting what it says in verse 3, just to carry this thought a little further. Verse 3 says, when the king heard this, when finally somebody got word to him, it says he was very troubled. And then it says, and then it says, all Jerusalem was troubled with him. Wow! The whole city of Jerusalem was troubled by the arrival of these wise men from the east. Now, why would that be? You stop and think about Jerusalem at that time. The normal population of Jerusalem back at that time, 2000 years ago, was about 30,000. And if Christ was born, as we think he was, during a festival season, all festival season in particular, but during any of the festival seasons, the population of Jerusalem swelled from 30,000 to near 100,000. Now, you think about wise men from the east. What are there three of them? You think about three wise men coming in and trying to ask some questions, where is he born, king of the Jews? Three wise men coming into a city of 30 to 100,000 wouldn't even be noticed, let alone they would trouble the whole city. There has to be more to the story. And indeed, there is. But I'll leave that for another time.

But on close examination, all the Christmas traditions are fiction, but people sometimes refer fiction to history, even though history is far more fascinating.

But Matthew only devotes a very few verses to the time surrounding Christ's birth, and it does not give us the actual day he was born. And like I said, the wise men didn't even arrive until after he was born, was a young child living back in his parents' home, as it tells us in verse 11. Let's go to Luke's account. Luke chapter 2 verse 1. Luke 2 verse 1, it says, It came to pass in those days that decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be registered. Verse 3, So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph, verse 4, went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth, and to Judea, to the city of David, which was called Bethlehem, which is only just a very few short miles from Jerusalem, because he was of a house on the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. Verse 6, So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because it was no room for them in the end, indicating that this well could have been during one of the festival seasons when the population of Jerusalem swelled from 30,000 to 100,000, and that would even, because Bethlehem was very, very close, only a few miles from Jerusalem, that would also fill that area as well, as far as the ends were concerned. But at any rate, no date of his birth is given here in Lusacown, either. But the next verse, however, indicates it could not have been, Christ could not have been born on December 25th. Verse 8 of Luke 2. At that time it says, there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Now, I want to read to you what, and I think very good commentary on the Old Testament, especially as Adam Clark, and I want to read to you what Adam Clark says in regards to Luke 2 verse 8.

He says, The time in which Christ was born has been considered a subject of great importance among Christians. However, the matter has been considered of no moment by him who inspired the evangelists. It's not a big account in the accounts of the Bible. It'll make a big thing out of it all. It says that, in fact, he says, no hint is dropped on the subject of when Christ was born, by which it might be possible even to guess nearly the time. You can't even guess when Christ was born, with exception of this one, maybe this one scripture here, except the chronological fact mentioned above that there were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch by night. And then he goes on to say this, It was accustomed among the Jews to send out their sheep to the desert about the time of the Passover and to bring them home again at the commencement of the first rain. As the Passover occurred in the spring and the first rain began early in the month, which answers to our October, we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole of the summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought their flocks home, they were still out in the fields, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, or not yet finished. October could not have been over yet. It still had to be sometime no later than early October when this occurred, because after about the middle of October, the shepherds were no longer out in the fields watching their flock by night. They brought them in.

It goes on to say, On this very ground, the nativity in December should be given up, he says.

The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact which casts considerable light upon this disputed point, the disputed point of Christ's birth. So in other words, what Adam Clark is saying is Christ could not have been born on December 25th, and we should give up trying to use that as the date of his birth. That's what Adam Clark says in his commentary, which is very interesting, based on Luke 2, verse 8. So it indicates that Christ could not then have been born anywhere near December 25th, and no date of his birth is given in Scripture. So then the question becomes, a very good question that people should ask themselves, why then was December 25th selected as a humanly devised date for celebrating the birth of Christ? Why would they celebrate a date that you can show from Scripture could not have been the date of Christ's birth? If you're going to pick a date, and they've got to pick one because it's not given, why not pick one that might fit? Why pick one that you know does not fit? That can't be the case. To answer that, you have to look at the history and the origin of Christmas observance, which we'll do now.

And I'm just going to give you a history, a summary of it, for the most part. But as the Roman Empire conquered and expanded, it incorporated various nationalities and various cultures and various religions into its territory of those people it conquered. And all those people it conquered allowed them to maintain their culture and their religion as long as they were subservient to Rome. As long as they were subservient to Rome, of course, we know that from the case of the Jews, when they overtook Judea and conquered it and the Jews became under the Roman Empire, they were able to continue to allow to continue practicing Judaism and to keep their culture and their religion as long as they remained subservient to Rome.

Now, one of the religions that was brought into the Roman Empire was the worship of Mithras, M-I-T-H-R-A-S, who was the Persian god of light. And the popularity of that particular religion remained unimpaired after the fall of the Persian Empire, and it became firmly fixed and came to full maturity within the Roman Empire in the first century A.D. And it began to attract great popularity within the Roman Empire. And by the end of the first century A.D., or during what Jesse Herbold in his history called the Age of Shadows, his book, The Story of the Christian Church, he started gaining great popularity about that time. I want to read a little bit from that.

A lot of you are familiar with this. Jesse Herbold's book, The Story of the Christian Church, but on chapter 5, he titles chapter 5 the Age of Shadows. And he's talking about the time, from about the time the Apostle Paul was martyred, about 68 A.D., until the time the Apostle John died, somewhere around 100 A.D.

He says here at the beginning of this chapter, we named the last generation of the first century, from 68 to 100 A.D., the Age of Shadows. He says, partly because the gloom of persecution was over the church, but more especially because of all the periods in the history, it is the one about which we know the least. We have no longer the clear light of the book of Acts to guide us, and no author of that age has filled this blank in history.

For 50 years after St. Paul's life, a curtain hangs over the church, through which we strive vainly to look. And when it lasts, that curtain rises around 120 A.D., when you can start seeing the history of the church again. He said, we find, within the writings of the earliest Catholic Church Fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that of the days of St. Peter and St. Paul. What things were very different in the church that emerged out of this Age of Shadows.

On page 46, Jester Herbod says this, in the Acts and later epistles, elders and bishops are named, as though the two titles were applied interchangeably to the same persons. But that was, that changed.

When you see this Age of Shadows, you see this church that emerged about towards 120 A.D. or so, and just after that, he said the universal church that emerged after 120 A.D., according to Herbod, had a growing tendency, quote, to elevate one bishop above his fellow elders, leading to an ecclesiastical or hierarchical system of government. Of course, that leader led to a line of popes, as we know, just from history, who then became victors of Christ, who ruled with the authority of Christ in the place of Christ, basically.

And that's just a matter of history. It's not a judgment. So what changes then occurred as a result of this emerging system, the church that came out with this emerging hierarchical system? Well, Herbod mentioned several of them. He says, one, baptism by sprinkling of water on the head began to replace baptism by immersion. You look in the first century church in the book of Acts and all through the epistles, baptism was only by immersion, but this church that emerged out of the shadows, all of a sudden you see them starting to sprinkle baptism by sprinkling.

Also, he said, observing the first day of the week, gradually began to replace the observance of the Hebrew Sabbath, as Herbod calls it. And third, he says, the recognition of Easter Sunday as the anniversary of our Lord's resurrection became sanctified in place of the Passover as the anniversary of Christ's death, which is plainly given in the Bible. That is the date that is given. So all the age of shadows emerged a universal church, which was much different than that from the time of Saint Paul and Saint Peter. Now, here's what Jesse Herbod says on page 79 of his book, The Story of the Christian Church.

He says, the services of worship increased in splendor, but were less spiritual and hardy than those of former times. The forms and ceremonies of paganism gradually crept into the worship. He's an objective historian here, just looking at what he found in history. And then he says this, and it's quite a statement, he says, the adoration of the Virgin Mary was substituted for the worship of Diana that we just read about. See, there's nothing in the Bible worshiping Mary as the mother of Jesus.

Nothing there that she should be worshiped. In fact, other than one mention of her in Acts 1, chapter 1, verse 14 of Acts, she's not even mentioned outside the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And there's no mention of her again after Acts 1.14. After the extension of Christ to his father, Mary is never even mentioned again in any of the letters. So it's quite apparent that the early Testament church did not worship Mary as she is now worshiped today in the universal church.

But when this church emerged out of the age of shadows, it says the adoration of the Virgin Mary was substituted for the worship of Diana. So the great goddess of Diana of the Ephesians became the great goddess Mary of the universal church.

And silver shrines of Diana became the silver shrines to Mary, which you still have today. Then Jesus then adds this, he says, as a result, we do not see Christianity transforming the world, but the world dominating and transforming the church. Now, in other words, instead of Christianity transforming the world, the world began to transform Christianity to its image.

And also, this was happening during the second and third centuries AD. Well, I'll just summarize. Number one, there are three things that actually were taking place during the second and third centuries AD to give you an understanding of the history of how Christmas observers became observed. Number one, the universal church was growing in prestige and popularity. This church emerged out of the age of shadows. Secondly, the Persian worship of Mithras, the Persian god of light, was growing in power and popularity alongside the universal church, the universal Christian church. They were both growing in popularity at the same time. Now, as the god of light, as the Persian god of light, the birthday of Mithras was observed on December 25th at the time of the Winter Solstice occurred at that time. Back then, two thousand years ago, the Winter Solstice occurred on December 25th. We just had it, I think it was December 20th or 21st. It occurs around December 21st now, but back then it occurred on December 25th. So that's when they worshiped the birthday of Mithras, the god of light, because that's when days began to be getting longer and shedding more light. Obviously, a good time to worship the god of light. Mithras was to the Persians and to those who were this religion that was going within the Roman Empire in the first century AD. Here's what the 11th edition encyclopedia says about the spread of Mithraism, the worship of Mithras, in the Roman Empire under its article of Mithras. It says, towards the close of the second century, the cult had begun to spread rapidly. From the end of the second century on into the third century, the emperors encouraged Mithraism. Its supporters were to be found in all classes. Its importance at Rome may be judged from the abundance of monumental remains, more than 75 pieces of sculpture, more than 100 inscriptions and ruins of temples and chapels in all parts of the city and suburbs of Rome. The same article in the 11th edition also says this, the worship of Mithras, the Persian god of light, spread throughout the empire and became the greatest antagonist of Christianity. In other words, Christianity, this Christianity emerged from the age of shadows. Christianity and Mithraism were in competition with each other. They had huge followings. They were both vying to become the religion of the Roman Empire. Associated with Mithraism, as was pointed out in the sermonette, was the Roman celebration of the Saturnalia, which stemmed from centuries-old worship of the god Saturn. It was also celebrated at the time of the winter solstice. At the same time, the birth of mistress was celebrated. Now, those are two things that were taking place. Now, a third thing that was taking place in second and third centuries within the Roman Empire was political intrigue. It was a constant vying for power of who was going to be the emperor and who'd be in control of the greatest and most powerful empire of the world. At the beginning of the 4th century AD, Constantine became the emperor, but he had competitors, and he wanted to solidify his position as being the emperor. He was around 312, early part of the 300s, 4th century AD, early 300s. In order to solidify his power as emperor, he chose Christianity to be the official religion of the empire in place of Mithraism. He had to make a choice. He wanted to get all the people united in one religion so they could all be behind him, solidify his power base. Now, he did that for political reasons, as he was a sun worshiper at the time, not a Christian, then become a Christian until his deathbed.

But to truly solidify his power, he needed a universal religion, and he needed all the adherents of Christianity and Mithraism to come together into one religion. That was essential in order for him to be able to solidify his power as the emperor. That became a relatively easy task.

To appease the worship of Mithras and to bring them on board as converted Christians, quote-unquote, all that had to be done was to convert the worship of Mithras to the worship of Christ. And you go back into history and you look, and that's exactly what he did. Since the birth of Mithras was on December 25th, after constantly became the emperor of Rome and declared Christianity to be the religion of the Roman Empire, the universal Roman church then, to accommodate that, then to create the December 25th, would henceforth be the recognized as the birth of Christ. That way you could satisfy both parties and bring all those who were part of Mithraism, bring them on board to become Christians instead, so you could have one religion. They also then incorporated the celebration of the Saturnalia, as it was also celebrated throughout the Roman Empire at the beginning of the fourth century. I'd like to quote an article entitled, The Real History of Christmas Customs by W.J. Bethancourt III.

He says, the winter solstice was the season of a major celebration of fertility in ancient Rome called Saturnalia. This honored the good old days. This, I find this quite interesting, this honored the good old days when the god Saturn ruled a supposed golden age, and there were no masters and no slaves, because you know there were a lot of slaves in the Roman Empire, almost every household had slaves. The golden age when there were no masters and no slaves and everything was easy. Thus, it became, when it was celebrating the Roman Empire, it became a reversal holiday when the masters served the slaves and a slave was chosen to temporarily rule the household during that particular festival. They also exchanged presents and gifts.

It was the greatest holiday of the year, even as it is today.

Now, it's interesting, it became a reversal holiday where the slave was the head of the household, and I thought of that. I think, you know, the Christmas today is kind of that way today. Christmas is the kind of reversal holiday today, because we are all supposed to be masters over our finances, not slaves to indebtedness. But today, so people spend so much money on Christmas gifts that they often go in debt to where it takes them two, three months to get out of debt, and actually their debts become the master, and they become a slave to indebtedness. So it's still kind of a reversal holiday in that sense. He goes on to say, it should come as no surprise that the Christian church co-opted this seasonal holiday of Saudi Arabia, celebrated by the city that ruled the world, and celebrated by Christianity's major competitor, Mithriism. It's no surprise that they blended those two together. It was simply a various political move, he says. Indeed, it was.

Of course, Christmas is not widely celebrated, actually, in the United States until the end of the 19th century, so late 1800s. It was actually outlawed in Boston until 1870.

It was after that that it slowly became a legal holiday, with Alabama being the first state to make it a legal holiday. It's only been the last hundred years or so that Christmas observance has become universally accepted in the United States and entrenched within our society. You know, a little over 100 years ago, you would be considered to be a heretic for observing it. Now you're considered to be a heretic if you don't observe it.

But the surface of Christmas in America began in the last half of the 19th century, I should say, with the arrival of large Irish Catholic immigrants, and also with the arrival of North European German immigrants. It was brought to America primarily by Catholics and German immigrants who made it popular in America in the latter part, the very latter part of the 18th century. Now some of them were modern day traditions, like we have, you know, flying reindeer, mistletoe, and all that stuff. A lot of those were made popular by Clark Moore's 19th century poem, The Night Before Christmas. A lot of that came from that poem, some of those traditions. But for most people today, all that really doesn't matter. Today, for those who view it from a Christian religious perspective, they sincerely feel that they're using Christmas to promote the worship of Christ. I mean, they sincerely believe that. And it's so entrenched in their way of thinking today that only God is going to be able to give their minds an understanding of the true perspective. So when people come up to me and they say, Merry Christmas or Happy New Year, all I do is say thanks and let it go with that. I don't go in to try to get in the history of Christmas. I know all I would do would offend them. They wouldn't want to hear it anyway. I know God's going to have to take it out to straighten people's minds out because it's so entrenched in our society and way of thinking today. Well, what does God's word say? Does it make any difference as far as God is concerned? Does any of this matter to God? Is it okay to borrow dates and symbols and observances which we're using in the past to worship foreign gods and then apply them to worshiping the true God? Let's look at what God's word said and ask what is the biblical perspective on Christmas observance? What does the Bible have to say with all these traditions of man and so on that we have today in the observance of Christmas? What did Christ himself tell us when it comes to worshiping God? He makes it very bold statement. It's in John 4 if you want to be turning there.

But in John 4, just to give you to build up a little bit to this, in John 4 Christ travels through the city of Samaria, which used to be the ancient capital. I mean, yeah, it was an ancient capital of ancient Israel. But there he encounters a woman who had come to draw water to the well. Christ sitting at the well, this woman comes to draw water out of a well, as well that Christ is sitting in. And this woman's forefathers had worshiped God on the mountain of Samaria. And Jews, of course, worshiped God in Jerusalem at the temple. And she knew Christ was a Jew. So she, in essence, asked Christ, where should God be worshiped? Worship to be worshiped? On the mountain here in Samaria or in Jerusalem? That's the wrong question. That's not what is important. Let's pick the story up in John 4, verse 19. Woman said, Jim, well, sir, I perceive the year of profit. And of course, the previous verse, verse 18, indicates why she said that. Christ just told her, well, you've been married five times, and the person you're with now is not your husband. And she says, well, how would he know that? She must be a prophet to know that. He had some kind of special insight. So I perceive the year of profit. Then she says in verse 20, our fathers worshiped on this mountain here in Samaria. And you Jews say that in Jerusalem is a place where one ought to worship.

You know, when it comes to worshiping God, the place is not what is important.

And I can say that for Christianity of the world. And I can say that for a friend of God's people as well. It's not the place. It's not the fact that we're in this building. That's not what is important. It's not where we are. It's not the place that promotes the true worship of God. I mean, it's not the place that's important as far as the true worship of God is important. And I think that's what I was concerned. Verse 22, He said, you worship where you do not know. And a lot of people worship today where they do not know. But He says we worship, we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. Paul explains the meaning of that in actually in Romans 9, verses 4 and 5, which you can look up later. But the primary meaning being that it was the Jews from whom Christ came, where salvation is through Jesus Christ. When Christ came, He was a Jew, He came from the Jews. Going on to verse 23, He said, but the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers of God will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such to worship Him, because God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. So it's not where we worship God that's important, it's how we worship God that's important. We must worship God in spirit and in truth. Now it's also interesting here that Christ is emphasizing worshiping the Father. And today, in today's Christianity, for the most part anyway, most emphasis is on worshiping the Son, and very little is said about the Father. For Christ here is emphasizing worshiping the Father. And God the Father, through Christ, is seeking true worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Now how does that directive then stock up when it comes to Christmas observance? Well, there is no truth involved in the modern day traditions of Christmas.

There's no truth involved. The date isn't true, it's a made-up date. The activity seen is not true, as there is no mention of only being three wise men. That's fabricated. And in reality, there are probably many more than three of them.

And they never visited Christ in a manger. They visited Him later in the home of His parents, as it tells us in Matthew 2.11. Shepherds were the only ones that visited Him in the manger at the time He was born. It doesn't say how many they were, it just says, Shepherds. I don't know whether there are two or more, but it doesn't say how many. And all the other symbols are, don't make any sense, they're all made up. They're all traditions of men. They're not true. Yeah, we know there's no such thing as a Santa Claus driving a sleigh through the air with a reindeer flying through the air and then coming down chimneys. Obviously, that's not only not true, it's impossible. And what of could any of that have to do with the worship of Christ, anyway?

Plus the fact that all those symbols that are used in Christmas observance are physical symbols. They're not spiritual. And if you take a physical symbol in using to worship God, what does that make that symbol? Well, it makes it into an idol, into a form of idolatry.

Now, what is Christ, God's Word, I should say, what does God's Word say when it comes to worshiping God by using symbols or things made by men's hands, then becoming a form of idolatry? Let's go back to Exodus 20. Exodus 20 verses 1 through 4. Exodus 20 verse 1, God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. That's pretty easy to understand. Verse 4, in order that you do not have any other gods before me, he says this in verse 4, you shall not make for yourself a carved image. Don't make anything physical. Don't carve anything with your hands and your worship of me. Don't make any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or there's the water underneath. He covers all every area you can think of. Don't make a physical image in your worship of me. As Christ said, God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, not the things that you would make with your hands. Now what about adopting, or I should say adapting, the way people worship foreign gods in the past and then adapting that to worshiping the true God? As we've done in the fourth century AD by adapting the worship of Diana and Mithras and Saturn to the worship of Christ. What does God were to say about that? Well, it says quite a bit, but let's just look at one passage. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 12. Just go forward a little bit to Deuteronomy 12, verses 28 to 32, the last four verses. Deuteronomy 12 beginning in verse 28, God 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. When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go into dispossess and you displace them and dwell on their land, then take heed to yourself that you are 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 gods? I will do likewise. I'll adapt what they did and make it a part of my worship of my God. Verse 31, You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. Very plain. Don't do that. For every abomination to the Lord, which she hates, they have done to their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. And you could say in a figurative sense, children are sacrificed today by getting the distortion of who God is and what he is and what he stands for when you have them observe Christmas. That's kind of a figurative sacrifice, so to speak. You have a hard time understanding, coming to understand the true knowledge of the true God. And the law of the truth of God is going to be sacrificed because of that. Then verse 32, Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You should don't add to it and don't take away from it. In fact, if you add to it, it's going to take away from it. But don't add to it. Don't add any other observances to it. I'll tell you. The worship of God, as I say, God says.

Now, one final point before closing. As everyone knows, the observance of Christmas is entirely built upon man-made traditions. The date of Christ's birth is not given, and there is no comment or even a hint in the New Testament to observe Christ's birth. Nothing at all about observing Christ's birth. Thus, Christmas is entirely a tradition of men.

Does observing that tradition, does that nullify a clear commandment of God? Let's go to Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7 verse 9.

I'm just talking about washing hands here, but the principle applies to Christmas of Christmas as well, or any tradition of men. Mark chapter 7. Actually, let's begin in verse 6. Mark 7 verse 6. He answered and said to them, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written. This people honors me with their lips. And people do. They honor, they certainly think they're honoring God, and things they say, so on, and some of these traditions that they have. They're sincere about it. But God says, I should say, and as Christ said here, but their heart is far from me. They may honor things with their words, but their heart does not really honor me from God's perspective. Because he says, In vain they worship me because they teach instead doctrines, as doctrines, the commandments of men. Things that men create, traditions they create.

Verse 8, For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men. And what doesn't matter whether it's washing of hands as it is here, or observing Christmas, whatever it is, whatever man makes up a tradition, that says you lay aside the commandment of God that you can hold to your tradition. That's exactly what happens in the case of Christmas observance. Verse 9, All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. Now, in keeping the tradition of Christmas, what commandment of God is thereby rejected? Well, by observing the tradition of Christmas, the commandment to observe Christ's death is rejected, or entirely watered down.

See, in nearly all Christians today, they keep the tradition of observing Christ's traditional birth, which is on a date that couldn't have happened. And in so doing, they totally overlook the observance of Christ's death on the Passover. Very few Christians today observed the Passover. I don't know if any do. And that observance, that day is given, it's a clear day that's given, and it's a clear command to observe it. But they don't observe it. Instead, they keep to hold to their tradition, thus they nullify a clear commandment of God, which was initiated by Jesus Christ himself. So those are the reasons why we don't observe Christmas. It was originally adapted from the worship of foreign gods. It was originally, I should say, it was founded on a fabricated date. They had to make up because no date is given, not even really much information at all in the exact time, although we can deduce it was probably during the fall festival season. So it was founded on a fabricated date. It's nowhere commanded in the New Testament. No command, or even a hint of command, to observe his birth. It's a form of idolatry, which violates Christ's command to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. It's a tradition of man which then causes man to, in turn, reject the command of God to observe Christ's death, which is clearly given. It's a decision of man which then rejects the most important commandment of God in the entire New Testament to observe the Passover in remembrance of Christ's death. So that, then, is why we don't observe Christmas.