23-1222A_THE IDENTIFIED CHRIST OF ALL AGES PT-6 (THE GREATEST GIFT FOR THE BRIDE OF CHRIST)

Luk 2:7  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 

Psa 100:1  A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. 

Psa 100:2  Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 

Psa 100:3  Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 

Psa 100:4  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 

Psa 100:5  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. 

Isa 53:1  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 

Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 

Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

Isa 53:5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 

BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST

AND THEN THAT WAS THE SUN-GOD'S BIRTHDAY, SO THEY CHANGED IT TO THE SON OF GOD.

WHY.LITTLE.BETHLEHEM_  PHOENIX.AZ  V-9 N-9  SATURDAY_  63-1214

  15      I don't believe that Christ was born on the twenty-fifth day of December. I--I do not believe that at all. It would be impossible for the things to happen. The hills of Judea are snowier than, why, snow is waist-deep in there in the month of--of December, up in Judea. But we realize in studying history, Christ was probably born in the spring, along maybe April or May, somewhere like that. But when it was changed, this, they brought it, when Christianity was converted into Romanism, they made the sun-god's birthday, which was the solar at the twenty-fifth, from the twenty-first to the twenty-fifth of December, the sun setting, like, almost hardly changes at all. And then that was the sun-god's birthday, so they changed it to the Son of God.

WHY.LITTLE.BETHLEHEM_  PHOENIX.AZ  V-9 N-9  SATURDAY_  63-1214

  16      But, remember, what ever what day it might be, we still doesn't take away the sacredness of what its supposed to be. Where Satan has robbed us of this, has made the great commercial, and Santa Claus stole all of the worship. And it's become a--a day like Easter, like bunny rabbits and pink ducks. And--and then what's that got to do with Easter? What's that got to do with the resurrection of Christ?

AND WHEN THEY BROUGHT THROUGH THE NICAEA COUNCIL, SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE HAD BEEN SO REJECTED UNTIL PROPHETS CAME IN OUT OF THE WILDERNESS…

BUT POPULARITY, THEM FIFTEEN DAYS OF BLOODY POLITICS, AND OVERRODE IT. THEN WE HAD A THOUSAND YEARS OF DARK AGE

THE.VOICE.OF.GOD.IN.THIS.LAST.DAYS_ PHOENIX.AZ  V-9 N-7  SUNDAY_  63-0120M

39      I was reading in the Nicaea Council, when the great issues come up at Nicaea, Rome, three hundred years after the death of Christ, in the great Nicaea Council, when the great church that stood for what was right, they wanted the Bible. And the Roman converts of the first church of Rome had injected dogmas, to say, for instance, like we have Christmas.

40    Christmas, Christ was no more borned on the twenty-fifth day of--of December than I was. Why, the hills of Judea was snowy, and He... It contrasts all other Bible prophecies. He was borned in the spring, like all lambs are born. Why was He born in a barn instead of a house? He was a Lamb. Why was He not just run up to the altar or to His altar where He was nailed to, the cross? He was led to the cross. You lead the sheep to the slaughter. He was a Lamb. Then He was born when lambs was born.

THE.VOICE.OF.GOD.IN.THIS.LAST.DAYS_ PHOENIX.AZ  V-9 N-7  SUNDAY_  63-0120M

  41      But, you see, to do that, they had the sun-god's birthday, which, on the solar system, the--the sun in the five days from December the twentieth unto December the twenty-fifth, there's hardly a moving at all, of the sun. lt--it varies a little each day, gets longer and longer and longer till it hits its longest day in July. And then, in December, its shortest day. And then that little time of the twenty-fifth, from the twentieth to the twenty-fifth, they had the Roman circus and the celebration of the sun-god'

s birthday. So then Jupiter, which was a Roman god, and then they injected it, in saying then, "We will take the Son of God and the sun-god's birthday, put that together and it be one great celebration." That's contrary! And, oh, the many injections that they placed in there!

THE.VOICE.OF.GOD.IN.THIS.LAST.DAYS_ PHOENIX.AZ  V-9 N-7  SUNDAY_  63-0120M

  42      And then when them true man of God who wanted to stay with the Word, like Polycarp, Irenaeus, Martin, those great, early, sainted man who wanted to stay with the Truth. And when they brought through the Nicaea Council, some of those people had been so rejected until prophets came in out of the wilderness with nothing around them but a piece of sheepskin, to sit in that council. But they knowed the Word of the Lord. But popularity, them fifteen days of bloody politics, and overrode It. Then we had a thousand years of dark age, see.

CHRISTMAS TRADITION, A PAGAN TRADITION

ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS
The origins of Christmas stem from both the pagan and Roman cultures. The Romans actually celebrated two holidays in the month of December. The first was Saturnalia, which was a two-week festival honoring their god of agriculture Saturn. On December 25th, they celebrated the birth of Mithra, their sun god. Both celebrations were raucous, drunken parties.

Also in December, in which the darkest day of the year falls, the pagan cultures lit bonfires and candles to keep the darkness at bay. The Romans also incorporated this tradition into their own celebrations.

As Christianity spread across Europe, the Christian clergy were not able to curb the pagan customs and celebrations. Since no one knew Jesus’s date of birth, they adapted the pagan ritual into a celebration of His birthday.

CHRISTMAS TREES
As part of the solstice celebrations, the pagan cultures decorated their homes with greens in anticipation of the spring to come. Evergreen trees remained green during the coldest and darkest days, so they were thought to hold special powers. The Romans also decorated their temples with fir trees during Saturnalia and decorated them with bits of metal. There are even records of the Greeks decorating trees in honor of their gods. Interestingly, the first trees brought into the pagan homes were hung from the ceiling, upside down.

The tree tradition we are accustomed to today hails from Northern Europe, where Germanic pagan tribes decorated evergreen trees in worship of the god Woden with candles and dried fruit. The tradition was incorporated into the Christian faith in Germany during the 1500’s. They decorated trees in their homes with sweets, lights, and toys.

 

GREATEST GIFT

*WHEN JESUS WAS HERE ON EARTH, HE WAS THE GREATEST GIFT THAT GOD EVER GIVE TO THE EARTH, BECAUSE HE WAS GOD. GOD WAS IN CHRIST, RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF.

COME.LET.US.REASON.TOGETHER_  CHICAGO.IL  TUESDAY_  55-1004

E-20    Now, that's like these visions on the platform. See? It's seeing a vision. Now, it's a gift of God. Now ministers, get this. It's a gift of God. Now, when Jesus was here on earth, He was the greatest Gift that God ever give to the earth, because He was God. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. "The fullness of God dwelt in Jesus Christ. He had the Spirit without measure." The Bible says that.

Now, in Him, would be just like comparing, I'd say like this, of all the water there is in the sea. That was the Gift of God, that was in Jesus Christ. Now, this little gift, that's in his unprofitable servant here, is just a spoonful of water out of that ocean. Now, you know how much that spoonful of water would be to the ocean, nothing. But remember, the same chemicals that's in that spoon, is in the whole ocean, just not as much of it. See?

Now, God give that gift to me by measure. He gives it to you by measure. He gives it to this man to preach by measure. He gives it to this man to sing by measure. But He give it to Jesus without measure. It was just--all of God was in Him; He was God manifested in flesh.

COME.LET.US.REASON.TOGETHER_  CHICAGO.IL  TUESDAY_  55-1004

  E-21    Now, but we are sons of God like He was, but adopted sons of God by His grace. By the death of Jesus, God's son, brings us into relationship to God. Now then, God with His adopted sons, has set in the church, some apostles, some teachers, some prophets, some evangelists, and so forth, down like that. Now, they're just small gifts.

*JESUS WAS GOD'S GREATEST GIFT.

  E-23    So He had referred to that. And we know that any age, and all through every age, God has always had His witness on the earth; He's never been without a witness. And He never will be without a witness. And when God sends a gift to the earth, and the people reject it, that generation goes into a chaos of blackness, and darkness, and rejecting of God. For God judges that generation by the way they judge His gifts.

Now, Jesus was God's greatest gift. And He was trying to tell them that they had rejected His message. They rejected... Sodom rejected the message of the Angels. And in Noah's age, that age rejected Noah's message. And then He begin to refer back to some that did accept it, and He gave illustrations in it. And He said, "Then at any generation that received God's gift, or God's message, that generation always prospered and become a great generation." It's the attitude that you take towards any Divine gift of God that brings forth the results that you'll get from it.

THE.QUEEN.OF.THE.SOUTH_  GREENVILLE.SC  FRIDAY_  58-0620

  E-24    …..But every person that comes to God has got to be tried first. And your faith has got to be tried. So if she would've come with that sort of an attitude, the miracle would never been performed. But no doubt, she'd read about the Shunammite woman, how she approached Elijah. So she approached Jesus the same way. If God was in His prophet, surely He was in His Son.

*THERE IS NOT ONE GIFT THAT COULD BE GIVEN GREATER THAN LIFE.

THE.GREATEST.GIFT.IN.THE.BIBLE_  EDMONTON.ALBERTA  SUNDAY_  57-0811A

  E-20    The reading of the Word this afternoon... Reason I was kinda was talking a little, the people kept coming in the doors and getting their seat. I was waiting till they get settled. Psalms a 100--63.

O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirst for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in thy sanctuary.

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee.

And I said this afternoon, or for this afternoon, that I wanted to speak on, "The Greatest Gift In The Bible." And how many in the audience this afternoon could think of any greater gift that God could give to man than Eternal Life. There is not one gift that could be given greater than Life. Life is the--that is the sublime gift. It's the greatest of all gifts, for where there is life, there is--there is joy. And God alone has Eternal Life.

*JESUS, WHEN... HE WAS THE GREATEST GIFT THAT GOD EVER GIVE THE EARTH, THE WORLD.

THEN.JESUS.CAME.AND.CALLED_  TAMPA.FL  FRIDAY_  64-0417

31    The Bible is in continuity. Every Word blends together. There's no contradiction in It. It all runs together. If you get a contradiction, you got (it) out of the Bible, because the Bible doesn't contradict. It's in continuity, continuity, completely. Notice.

 32      Now this, Jesus, when... He was the greatest gift that God ever give the earth, the world. "God so loved the world," John 3:16. Now, people had faith in It.

33    Always, God's gifts are looked down upon, by the modern religious moves. Look back at any time, in the days of Elijah, in the days of Moses, the days anywhere you want to. Wherever it is, it's always looked down upon, always. It never changes.

*GOD HIMSELF WRAPPED HIS OWNSELF IN A CHRISTMAS PACKAGE AND SENT IT TO THE WORLD.

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

  43    …..Just a little while from then, and the world was going to receive its greatest Gift that it ever received, a little Package wrapped up, a little, first little Christmas Package that was ever wrapped in all the world, God wrapped It up.

I want to break in on my thought, and say this. The greatest thing was ever wrapped in human flesh was wrapped in It, God Himself wrapped His Ownself in a Christmas Package and sent it to the world.

Why did they refuse It? Why couldn't they see It? Why did they turn It down? Why is it they didn't want It? The same reason they don't want It tonight. It wasn't handed to them in the custom that they were used to gifts being handed. That's the reason It's rejected yet tonight, is because It's not handed to the people in the custom that they have been used to receiving gifts.

But God wrapped His Own Package. He's got a right to do it; He's the One that's a-giving It. He has a right to wrap It any way He wants to wrap It. Doesn't make any difference how it is, He's got a right to do it, because He's the One that's giving the--the Gift.

*JESUS WAS THE GREATEST GIFT GOD EVER GIVE TO THE WORLD.

THE.QUEEN.OF.SHEBA_  TULSA.OK  FRIDAY_  60-0401E

E-20    Now anyone knows, that any time that God sends a gift to the earth, and the people turns that gift down, it's always chaos to that nation and that people, that turns down the gift of God.

Jesus was the greatest Gift God ever give to the world. And the Jewish people turned it down, and is scattered throughout the world from that time since. And when God sends a gift, and the people refuses to see it, and refuses to take it, then it's scattered, the people is, and they--like sheep having no shepherd.

*GOD INTENDS THE HOLY SPIRIT TO LEAD THE CHURCH…THE GIFT OF GOD, THAT'S BEEN SENT TO US TO GUIDE US, AND DIRECT US, AND SET US IN ORDER

THE.QUEEN.OF.SHEBA_  TULSA.OK  FRIDAY_  60-0401E

  E-22    Now, in the days of Solomon, all gathered around and rallied around that great gift of God that was sent to the church and to the people.

…..What if all the ministers, all the laity, all the churches together, would rally around the Holy Ghost, the Gift of God, that's been sent to us to guide us, and direct us, and set us in order? But we got so many bishops, and archbishops, and men.

God intends the Holy Spirit to lead the church. That's our Leader. That's the One that was sent to us, and we're to be dominated by Him and Him alone, that directs us. Then we stay in the Word, level in the Word. The Holy Spirit feeds you Sheep-food. And Sheep-food is the Bible. And it feeds on the Holy Spirit. The soul that's hungering for God, feeds on the Word of God. Now, if we'd all rally around that, it--we wouldn't have to dig one foot under the ground. We wouldn't have to fear any atomic attack, because we'd already be in the safety.

*AND THE GIFT OF GOD'S ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH IS THE GREATEST GIFT IN THE WORLD, WILL SPEAK BACK INTO YOUR HEART.

THE.QUEEN.OF.THE.SOUTH_ INDIANAPOLIS.IN  FRIDAY_  57-0614

E-35    "I now want to make my pledge of loyalty to Christ. I now do promise, as I raise up my hands, be Thou my everlasting Portion."

And the gift of God's Eternal Life, which is the greatest gift in the world, will speak back into your heart. "Yes, child of Mine, I now receive you."

*JESUS WAS GOD'S LOVE GIFT TO THE CHURCH, AND THE CHURCH IS GOD'S LOVE GIFT TO JESUS.

A.GREATER.THAN.SOLOMON.IS.HERE_  PHOENIX.AZ  THURSDAY_  57-0228

E-20    He was discussing with them. They had attacked Him. And the world has always attacked the gifts of God. And Jesus was God's greatest Gift. Jesus was God's love Gift to the Church, and the Church is God's love gift to Jesus. God so loved world that He gave. See? "All the Father has given Me will come." See, it's a love affair.

A.GREATER.THAN.SOLOMON.IS.HERE_ PHOENIX.AZ  THURSDAY_ 57-0228

  E-21    And always in all ages God has worked through His gifts, gifts of the Spirit. God in sundry times and divers manners spake to the fathers through the prophets, but in this last day through His Son Christ Jesus. Now, noticing, God works in His gifts, and when God sends His gifts, those gifts always stand steadfast. They're always attacked by the devil, but they hold their color because they are from God. And all the attacks that Satan could put upon them will never move one.

A.GREATER.THAN.SOLOMON.IS.HERE_  PHOENIX.AZ  THURSDAY_  57-0228

  E-22    Oh, I'm so happy to know that. I'm so happy to know that I've lived long enough to see that brought to showdown time after time. God's gifts will always hold perfect, sometimes not in the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of His children. It wasn't sent for the world. It was sent for the children.

CHRISTMAS SPENDING STATISTICS

-2023 holiday sales are expected to reach an estimated US1.2 trillion dollars.

-UK: expected to have largest share Christmas gift spending 70% in 2023

-FIJI: expected to have largest global share of Christmas decoration spending at 59%

-PHILIPPINES: expected to have a global christmas spending share 60% on food & beverages in 2023.

-U.S.: expected sales to account for US273 billion dollars.

-MILLENIALS: are expected to be the biggest sellers in 2023 for Christmas.

-AMERICANS: on average spend over US997dollars

-ONLINE SHOPPERS GLOBALLY: estimated to spend US209

THE COMMERCIAL WORLD IS SO MUCH GREATER INFLUENCED BY CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE THERE IS SO MANY PEOPLE SHOP. 

THE.WORLD.IS.AGAIN.FALLING.APART_ SHP.LA  V-17 N-4  WEDNESDAY_  63-1127

28      We was coming down yesterday, or last evening, through Memphis, Tennessee, got in there kind of late in the afternoon, or part of the evening. And we could hardly get through the streets, the--the children and people were so crowded. And I thought, "What could this be?" The--the people wasn't dressed like they had been to a religious meeting like maybe our good brother, Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. And I didn't think they were in that district at that time, anyhow. And the women were wearing slacks, and little children around them, were just with overalls on, and so forth, coveralls. And I wondered what it was, and finally we found out. They had had a--a Santa Claus parade. There had been many thousands had been watching it on the streets, and so forth. And we just had an awful time getting through Memphis, because it's coming Christmas time.

THE.WORLD.IS.AGAIN.FALLING.APART_ SHP.LA  V-17 N-4  WEDNESDAY_  63-1127

  29      And Christmas is such a great commercial day, until it's taken Thanksgiving pretty near out of the picture, because... in the--in the world of business, anyhow; because that the--the commercial world is so much greater influenced by Christmas, because there is so many people shop. And they just... Thanksgiving is just a little passing-by. And we find out, as we see Christmas nearing again, I thought it would be a good thing to speak on this subject, as we're nearing it. Seeing that, really, Christmas is not...

THE.WORLD.IS.AGAIN.FALLING.APART_ SHP.LA  V-17 N-4  WEDNESDAY_  63-1127

  30      We celebrate this 25th day of December for the birthday of Christ, but, course, anyone knows that it wasn't Christ's birthday. That was the Roman sun-god's birthday, that when the church was converted into, or, brought into Catholicism, was formed at the council at Nicaea. Instead of it being the "sun god's," they made it the "Son of God's" birthday. That was when, the sun, it's from the 20th until the... I mean the 21st till the 25th, it's kind of in its... Forget what the name you call it, rightly. It's when it's hardly a second-or-two's time when it's passing through that stage. And it was the sun-god's birthday, and they just taken the "Son of God" and made that His birthday, to blend it in with their pagan tradition. And it's no means, at all, being Christ's birthday.

I BELIEVE, HE WAS BORN, MYSELF, MARCH, APRIL, OR SOMEWHERE ALONG IN THERE, IN THE EARLY SPRING.

THE.WORLD.IS.AGAIN.FALLING.APART_ SHP.LA  V-17 N-4  WEDNESDAY_  63-1127

  31      He could not been born at that time, because Judaea is about the same on the--on the... high up the equator, as this is, and we--we find out that, in Judaea, in the wintertime, 25th of December, she is blizzardly and cold. Shepherds cannot be on the hill, and many reasons that it couldn't be.

32    And then He was nature born, like all other nature, He--He came forth in the Spring. Usually when the lambs are born, in the Spring; and He was the Lamb. Now, I believe, He was born, myself, March, April, or somewhere along in there, in the early Spring.

*GOD HIMSELF WRAPPED HIS OWNSELF IN A CHRISTMAS PACKAGE AND SENT IT TO THE WORLD.

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

  43    …..Just a little while from then, and the world was going to receive its greatest Gift that it ever received, a little Package wrapped up, a little, first little Christmas Package that was ever wrapped in all the world, God wrapped It up.

I want to break in on my thought, and say this. The greatest thing was ever wrapped in human flesh was wrapped in It, God Himself wrapped His Ownself in a Christmas Package and sent it to the world.

Why did they refuse It? Why couldn't they see It? Why did they turn It down? Why is it they didn't want It? The same reason they don't want It tonight. It wasn't handed to them in the custom that they were used to gifts being handed. That's the reason It's rejected yet tonight, is because It's not handed to the people in the custom that they have been used to receiving gifts.

But God wrapped His Own Package. He's got a right to do it; He's the One that's a-giving It. He has a right to wrap It any way He wants to wrap It. Doesn't make any difference how it is, He's got a right to do it, because He's the One that's giving the--the Gift.

*THEY WANT IT WRAPPED IN THE KIND OF A GOODS THAT THEY WANT TO WRAP IT IN. THEY WANT THE TINSEL ON IT.

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

  49    So is it tonight, my brother. God's Gift hasn't come the way people wanted It to come, and so they've turned It down. They don't want It. They want It wrapped in the kind of a goods that they want to wrap It in. They want the tinsel on It. They want something flowerly, something that's perfumed, something that's glittering, something that's classic. But God don't send It all the time like that. He sends It in the power, the way He wants to send It.

*ANOTHER THING, IT WAS BROUGHT BY THE POOR.

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

  50    Another thing, It was brought by the poor. Mary and Martha, or Martha, rather, or... Mary and Joseph was very poor people. They were peasants. And because It was brought by the poor, they didn't want It.

So is it today. When this great Gift of the Church, the Holy Spirit, falls upon the poor and humble, the rich don't want It. They don't want to humble themselves. They want It with class, but they don't want It the way God sends It. Many people wants to receive the Holy Ghost, but--but they want to get It the way they want It. But, oh, I'm so glad that you can't do it that way. You have to do it the way God sends It to you, and humble ourselves to receive It.

*IT WASN'T WRAPPED IN FINE LINENS. IT WAS WRAPPED IN SWADDLING CLOTH. 

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

52    It wasn't wrapped in fine linens. It was wrapped in swaddling cloth. Which I'm taught that the very thing that Jesus was wrapped in, the Christ, was the stuff off the back of a yoke of an ox, that was hanging in the stable. He was wrapped in... The swaddling cloth was the--the--where they put the--a rag around the ox's yoke to keep it from rubbing a blister on him when he was pulling. They--they had no clothes for Him. And they... Oh, when I think of that, it nearly breaks my heart: no clothes for Emmanuel, the Creator of heavens and earth. And no clothes for Him to put on, and had to be wrapped in the rag that an ox had worked his neck through. Oh, what a super sign.

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

63    They'd rather have a creed than they would the Gift. They'd rather have the paper than the Gift. They want the paper, sure, something that's all tinsel, and a lot of fuss they can do about it. But the real Gift that's on the inside of it, they don't want It.

See, He was wrapped then in a dirty cloth, a swaddling cloth. And He's wrapped today in the same thing, which they call holy-roller, fanaticism, a bunch of heretics. It's wrapped up in swaddling cloth, and the world don't want It. Oh, I'm so glad to raise that cloth off and look what's laying underneath it: Eternal Life, God made flesh and dwelt among us.

THAT'S THE WAY THE CHURCH IS, AND PEOPLE DO TODAY, THEY FORGET THAT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

  59    So they could not receive It because they thought more of their creeds than they did of the Gift. That's the way it is today. People can't accept speaking with tongues in their church; it would ruin their creed. They can't accept Divine healing, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and such great evangelical doctrines of the Bible, apostolic truths. Why? Because their creed condemns It. Oh, how foolish to take the paper the Package is wrapped in, and throw the Gift away. Like the moron, he took the box and accepted it, and throwed the gift away. That's the way the church is, and people do today, they forget that the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ. He's rejected as much today as He was then. This Christmas night, He's just as much rejected as He was the first Christmas night. They cannot do it, because it disagrees with their creeds. All down through the ages we've had the same thing.

*NOW, GOD CREATED A MAN TO HAVE A THIRST. NOW, GOD CREATED A MAN TO HAVE A THIRST.

THE.GREATEST.GIFT.IN.THE.BIBLE_ EDMONTON.ALBERTA  SUNDAY_  57-0811A

  E-39    …..Now, David said here, "My soul longs for You, like in a dry land where there's no water." Now, God created a man to have a thirst. Your makeup, you were made to thirst. God made you that way. You cannot help it because you thirst. God made you to do it. Now, God created a man to have a thirst. That thirst was put in you, not to go to the devil's places, not to thirst after Hollywood, or fashions of the world; but that thirst was given you to thirst after God.

*THAT'S THE WAY YOU FIND LIFE IS TO KNOW HIM

THE.GREATEST.GIFT.IN.THE.BIBLE_  EDMONTON.ALBERTA  SUNDAY_  57-0811A

  E-42    But the only way you can have Life is to take that thirst and satisfy it by the drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry, that beautiful Holy Spirit that rains from God out of heaven. That's the way you find Life is to know Him; not know His Book, but to know Him; not to know your church, but to know Him; not to thirst to satisfy the pastor, but to satisfy the Lord. That's that holy thirst. That's what it's in you for. And would you quench that with things of the world. It's death. It's perverted.

Did not the Bible say, "If you love the world or the things of the world, it's because of the love of God's not even in you."? That great holy thirst. You can't satisfy it by joining the church. There's no satisfaction in joining the church. You're trying to sear your conscience and fill your heart with lust. Come out in the open; confess your sins, and thirst for God's righteousness. "Because Thy lovekindness is better to me than life, my lips shall praise Thee." Think of it.

*HE'S THE GREATEST CARATED DIAMOND THAT WAS EVER BROUGHT OUT OF THE DUST OF THE EARTH, THE GREATEST GOLD THAT WAS EVER BROUGHT FROM THE DIRT.

 GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

  100    Who did know what was in this Gift Package? Was there anybody ever found out what was in It? I'm so glad that there was. Who knowed it? It was a hidden Thing, a rejected Stone, but there was somebody found out what was in it. I'm so glad.

I like to search out things. Don't you? I like to dig up nuggets and polish them over, see what--what's in them, put them before the Geiger.

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

  102    He was put before the Geiger too on Calvary. He was a hundred percent. Sure, He was, the greatest Gold that they had ever found, the most expensive Diamond that was ever, ever... The--the Bible said that, "The Kingdom of heaven is like a man that buys diamonds. And when he found this great One, he sold all his other ones, and just to get It, to buy It." He's the greatest carated Diamond that was ever brought out of the dust of the earth, the greatest Gold that was ever brought from the dirt. He's a Jewel, the Jewel of heaven, a big Diamond.

*OH, THEM RAYS OF GOD'S LOVE AND LIGHT REFLECTS FROM HIM HEALING POWER, LOVE, RESURRECTION.

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

  103    When a big diamond's found in South Africa... I've been through the--the big diamond mines at Kimberley. And they take those diamonds, and then when they get them out of the dust, raw, then they chip them. And the reason they chip them, cut them, is to reflect light; put lights off of that, the carat of that, showing you what carat there is in that diamond. If it doesn't have a lot of fire and sparkle, it's not much diamond. But when it's got... It's glass. But when it's a real diamond, a real carated diamond, it'll reflect and show different colors.

GOD'S.WRAPPED.GIFT_  JEFF.IN  V-14 N-8  SUNDAY_  60-1225

  104    That's what He was; He was a Diamond. "And He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we were healed." Oh, them rays of God's love and Light reflects from Him healing power, love, resurrection. God wounded Him, and bruised Him, and chopped Him, and cut Him by a Roman sword, and a--and a--a Roman whip, until His sides was riven, and the Blood running out of His back, and was over His head, and down through His beard, and off of His feet. But what was He doing? He was reflecting love. He embraced the cross; instead of a soft, feathered pillow; a manger of straw. Instead of a little, pink gown to wear; a swaddling cloth.