Transcription
We are the perfect work. Subscribe and activate the notification bell so you don't miss any videos. May the peace of our God, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be upon the heart of the Church of the Lord. So that my brothers may take their seats, I would like to take a biblical passage from the book of Luke, chapter 2, verse 10, for the honor and glory of the Lord. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, for today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord. May this biblical passage that we have taken be for the honor and glory of our God to begin our Sunday school practice. Take your seats, my brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This morning we are going to discuss a topic according to the season, the birth of Christ. That is the topic we are going to discuss about the birth of Christ. Generally, regarding the topic, there is a discussion that has been going on for many, many years, perhaps centuries, about whether or not the birth of Christ should be celebrated. When we talk to people, we find a series of facts and information where some are against celebrating the birth of Christ and others are in favor. The truth is that within these two groups of people there are bad people and there are also good people. Within them there are those who claim, brothers, to have sufficient arguments not to celebrate the birth of Christ. And others also say they have sufficient elements to celebrate it. Pay close attention here, brother, some questions arise. Some questions arise that we are going to try to answer. The first question would be, what does the Bible say about it? Should it be celebrated or not? Number two. Does the Bible prohibit celebrating the birth of Christ? Does the Bible command celebrating the birth of Christ? Is it a commandment to celebrate the birth of Christ? Did the early church do it? These are several, brother, questions that we are going to look at this morning. If we are objective, then, brother, the Bible says nothing about it. There is also no clear commandment that approves it, let alone disapproves it. Therefore, if there is no commandment and someone celebrates the birth of Christ or does not celebrate it, they are committing a sin. Brother, with this we understand that it is neither a sin to celebrate it nor to not do so. In the scriptures we are going to find, and pay close attention to what I am going to say, because it is important that we always keep this in mind. In the Bible we find what we will call explicit commandments, that is, clear commandments that leave no room for doubt about what is ordered. Apart from these explicit, clear commandments, we also find what we know as spiritual biblical principles, which are, brother, extracted from the Scriptures and which are permitted, although they are not clear commandments, but it is permitted to obey them. Obviously, it is easier to follow and obey a clear commandment than one that is, brother, extracted through interpretation. So we are saying that it is easier to obey those clear commandments, but the same does not happen with spiritual principles that are extracted. And it is to some extent even complicated because they require interpretation to extract them, and some of them we even find them hidden. For example, the Bible clearly commands, "You shall not murder." Now, what about that commandment is not understood? Could someone say, "But I didn't understand that?" Brother, no one can say that. No one can say, "But I didn't understand that." Because the commandment is clear, you shall not murder. Therefore, no one can object that they did not understand it because the commandment is clear. Today we move on to the following. Smoking is a sin. A brother will immediately say. Yes, brother, smoking is a sin. But I ask you, where in the Bible does it say that smoking is a sin? Brother, you will never find a clear text that says, "This is a sin. Smoking is a sin." But since there is no text that says that smoking is a sin, we can do it, right? No. Why not? If there is no clear text that says you cannot smoke. Why do we say then that it is a sin? We say it is a sin because it is implied, it is hidden in many biblical texts that it, brother, is a sin. So, this is what we mean when we say that in the Bible there are clear commandments and there are other commandments that are hidden. And what are sins? If we do not obey the instruction of the Spirit of God, there is a text that can be used to derive many prohibitions from God. For example, not smoking. Not drinking alcohol, because if we do, we fall into sin. And it is, brothers, if we talk about the text found in First Corinthians, we will look for it. Chapter 3, verse 16. For the honor and glory of the Lord. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple, which you are, is holy, holy it is for the honor and glory of the Lord. So, in this text it does not say not to smoke, it does not say not to drink alcohol because it is a sin, it does not say not to watch pornography because it is a sin. There is not a single clear text that speaks of these things directly. However, from this text and other biblical texts we extract commandments that must, brother, be obeyed. If you smoke, you destroy your body. If you drink alcohol, you destroy your body. If you watch pornography, you also destroy your body. I don't want to get into more things, but we are demonstrating that there are hidden commandments that if they are not obeyed, if they are not heeded, we fall into sin, even if there are no direct, clear texts that say it is a sin, but we are not, brother, demonstrating in this way. So, the birth of Christ, is there a direct commandment in the Bible? Clearly, no, there is not. Is the birth of Christ an implied, hidden commandment? No, not in either case. Let's move on to the next point. You see that people argue that the birth of Christ should not be celebrated. And some say it should not be celebrated because it is of pagan origin. And that is not true. Because I ask you, in a birthday celebration, brother, what is normally done? Ah, well, let's think. The birthday person is sung to, a cake is bought, a meal is made, brothers, the family gathers. I ask, what is wrong with that? Well, there is nothing wrong with it. We, brothers, do it. Worldly people do it too. Of course, they do it their way, we do it our way. They do it with alcohol, we don't, but we both celebrate birthdays. We see it, brother, as a social activity, we don't see it as a spiritual activity either, and the only spiritual thing is to come and thank God for another year of life that He granted to the person, but beyond that it is a social matter. Now, if we, brother, move on to the birth of Christ, Catholicism, Roman Catholicism has made a mixture of everything, and in the things they do there are both truths and falsehoods. There are good things and bad things. There are satanic idolatrous things. There are social things mixed with spiritual matters, brother. That is, there is a mixture of everything. We have already seen that rejoicing for a while, eating with family, brother, there is nothing wrong with that. But Catholicism has made this family gathering in its celebration a facade to redirect people to fulfill a pagan cult that already existed and was practiced by pagan people to their gods. The birth of Christ, pay close attention, the birth of Christ has nothing to do with the celebration that Catholicism does. We do not celebrate the birth of Christ, not because it is a sin, nor is it forbidden. The Church of Jesus Christ did not do it either, nor did the apostles, brothers, teach it at that time. And although it is a very important fact, if one day God's revelation through His servant indicated it to us, then, brother, it is not a sin and we would do it with pleasure if it were a commandment and if we also knew the exact date, because that is another falsehood of Catholics who say that Christ was born in December. No one knows the exact date of Christ's birth, but all that is spoken is pure speculation. Mixed with business and satanic worship of ancient gods created by pagan people. That is what Catholicism does, which has nothing to do with the birth of Christ. The fact that someone says that the celebration of the birth of Christ is not done because it is of pagan origin, is not true. And it is a person who is lying. The birth of Christ has nothing to do with what Roman Catholics do. Whoever says that the birth of Christ is of pagan origin is getting into trouble, brothers. Whoever says that would then be obliged to lock themselves in a bubble alone and go live on another planet. Why? Because we are full after human history. We are full, brother, of pagan customs and practices. Almost 80, 90% of the things we do, we say, we have, almost the majority is of pagan origin. After Adam and Eve, everything, brother, was distorted, and today, for the most part, everything we have is of pagan origin. So, you cannot say that you do not celebrate the birth of Christ because it is of pagan origin, because that is not true. What Catholics do is different, but it has nothing to do with the satanic mixture that Catholics make of their celebration of the birth of Christ. So, why don't we celebrate it? Well, because it is not a commandment, and I don't sin if I want to celebrate it. I also don't sin if I don't want to celebrate it. But what are we going to celebrate if we don't even, brother, know the date? Be careful, let's not say it's of pagan origin. If we talk about pagan things, almost everything is of pagan origin. Brother, we use the days of the week, the world uses them and we use them. Did you know that the days of the week are of pagan origin? Do you know why Monday was called Monday? Do you know why Tuesday was called Tuesday? Each day was dedicated to seven pagan gods of the Babylonian people. So, to come and say that something is not done because it is of pagan origin, brother, would be to have a double standard, as many of us even have names of pagan origin. In the church, how many are not called, brother, Maria in honor of an idol? How many are not called Guadalupe in honor of an idol? And that does not make the brother pagan, because through baptism he has been sanctified. For example, who knows the origin of the tie? Most, I am sure no one. Only recently, brothers, have I come to know and realize the origin of the tie. Did the apostles wear ties? No, they didn't. Did the early church wear ties? No, they didn't. No, they didn't wear them. So, why do we wear them? Because we see it, brother, as a garment, as an accessory that makes us look presentable, and that's it. But it is of pagan origin. But we don't use it for something pagan. With respect, brother, to the tie in the religious area, it had to do with the worship of a goddess called Isis. She had a scarf with a knot around her neck. Anyone who wore that garment around their neck meant they were a follower and worshipper of the goddess Isis. Ah, well, now I know, I'm going to throw away all my ties. Well, no, brother, if we wear ties, it's not because we are worshippers of that demon, but because we wear them to look presentable, and that's all. Brother, if we go on like this, we will discover many things we eat are of pagan origin, that we use are of pagan origin. Even to support ourselves daily, we use things that are of pagan origin, and even, brother, they are of satanic origin. Proof of this is the national currency of this country, the dollar. Have you noticed the symbols? Look, our currency has Masonic symbols, it has satanic symbols. Realizing this, I don't think there is anyone who, upon hearing this, will say, "No, then I won't touch money anymore, I'll throw it away." So, if someone takes that stance that as a Christian, as a member of the church, I don't touch things of pagan origin. No, brother, I believe these examples should make us reflect that many things that exist have pagan origins, but we do not use them for the purposes for which, brother, they were invented, for example, the tie. We use many things for good purposes, even things that have to do with salvation, because we use dollars to survive. If it weren't for money, we couldn't build temples, and these are pagan things. So, this is a matter, brother, of perception. I ask you, who among you doesn't like vacations? Brother, we all like vacations. Did you know that vacations also have pagan origins? No, well, now you know. It all began thousands of years ago in celebration of a Mesopotamian god, whose worshippers said, "We will not go to work in honor of our god." And so it developed. Now it is also called a holiday. So, with this we can say that if someone is closed-minded about something, then they should be about everything. Brothers who work in a company receive something called Aguinaldo. Yes. Did you know that this practice is also of pagan origin mixed with business? I don't think anyone will go and tell their boss now that they don't want the Aguinaldo. The Aguinaldo, according to history, comes from the Celtic word. Aguinaldo was the name they gave to the gifts that people gave each other at the end of the year or at the beginning of the year. Brother, having all this information, and we could continue giving many examples, I ask myself, what will all those who hypocritically say that they do not touch pagan things, that they do not do pagan things because they come from paganism, do, when in fact they do? You see, when someone says something and accuses another of being bad for something that was discovered, as long as they themselves are not discovered, they are good in the eyes of others, even if they are doing it in secret. People call this attitude double-faced or a person with a double standard because they say something and even post it on social media, but they don't practice it themselves. I don't want to get into this double standard, but I have seen several people on social media who have a double standard, who say they don't celebrate x thing because it is of pagan origin. So, how do they eat? Because much of the food or the money with which they buy it is also pagan. Much of the clothing they wear is also of pagan origin. So, this is a matter, brother, of lacking knowledge, understanding, and discernment of things. Why does the church, the light of the world, not celebrate the birth of Christ? First, because it is not a commandment from God. Second, there is no commandment that prohibits it or says it is a sin. Whether we do it or not, we do not sin because there is no clear commandment, nor, brother, a hidden one that needs to be interpreted, there is none. Now, if someone does this, because there are brothers who do it, if someone does this with a Catholic mindset that carries a mixture of everything, brother, that's where it becomes, you see. That's where this becomes a personal decision to do it based on free will, based on the parameter of what is convenient and what is not convenient. I remember brother Samuel on one occasion speaking about the birth of Christ. He says, "If the world rejoices, why shouldn't we?" And although it is not celebrated, but the church, brothers, worldwide, I see photographs, brother, in the province. How beautifully they adorn, brother, the brothers of the beautiful province, the entire province with lights. Yes. Several brothers also put up, brothers, a little tree. Who puts lights on it? In the administrative offices, in various parts of the world, I have also seen them put up a little tree, and it looks beautiful. A decoration of the season. Yes. I would not want to mention some places where your brother has been and where these are the homes of very important people to us, where they also, brothers, put up a little tree, but it looks, brothers, beautiful. Perhaps someone might be scandalized by this, but we are talking, we are discussing the topic, and I hope your brother is making himself understood. So, if the world does it, as the man of God, Samuel Joaquín, said, to rejoice, why shouldn't we? And although it is a lie that Christ was born on a specific date, which the worldly person believes, brother, reasoning this, what good does it do? What good does it do to rejoice for the birth of Christ if they don't even, brother, accept Him? It is beneficial for us out of gratitude, it is beneficial for recognition, since we have indeed received Him and have benefited from the birth of Christ. But since it is not a commandment, we do not know, brother, the date, we also do not sin if we do it or not. Doing this becomes a personal decision for each family in the church. It is not a matter of good or evil, but of preferences according to the discernment of each brother. Brother, but the lights, the little tree, is it from No, it's not true, brother. It belongs to the brother who bought it. In God's wisdom, we have always been advised to be careful with the weak, with those lacking understanding. Let us read a passage from the Scriptures in the book of Romans, chapter 14, verse 1, for the honor and glory of the Lord. Receive the weak, the weak in faith, but not to contend over opinions, for one believes that he may eat all things. Another who is weak eats vegetables. He who eats should not despise him who does not eat. And he who does not eat should not judge him who eats, for God has received him for the honor and glory of the Lord. So, brother, not all of us in the church have the same understanding. Not all of us have the same discernment. There are those who, for example, have not yet understood that they have steps to climb and therefore are scandalized by all doctrine. He is not commanding us to fight, to argue with those who are scandalized by everything. On the contrary, says the man of God, if by a meal you are going to be a stumbling block to another and you know it, then, brother, be prudent, wait until he leaves and eat it in secret. But why? Ah, because that one is weak and since you are not weak, you must have patience with the weak. There is a text I want to read this morning, from the book of First Corinthians, chapter 8. We will look for it. Verse 6. For the honor and glory of the Lord. For us, however, there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist. But not all have this knowledge, for some, accustomed until now to idols, eat as if sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Though food does not make us more acceptable to God, for neither if we eat. You see, though food does not make us more acceptable to God, for neither if we eat will we be more, nor if we do not eat will we be less. But take care that this liberty of yours does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge sitting at the table of one who is weak. Look, for if anyone sees you who have knowledge sitting at the table in an idol's place, the conscience of him who is weak will not be stimulated to eat what has been sacrificed to idols, and through your knowledge the weak brother, for whom Christ died, will be lost, for the honor and glory of the Lord. Verse 13. Therefore, if food is an occasion for my brother to fall, I will never eat meat again so that I may not cause my brother to stumble, for the honor and glory of the Lord. That is what we were saying, brother. Brother, but why are you eating that? If that belongs to the brother, what fault does the food have? If you believe that a food will make you sin, then, brother, don't eat it, but stop fighting. If you believe that a chicken sandwich or eating a piece of turkey will make you a sinner, then don't eat it, and that's it. It's your understanding. And if you, who have understanding, know that a food has nothing wrong with it because it is a chicken sandwich, it is a piece of turkey, and that's it, and it will cause others to stumble, then don't do it. Don't do it. Or wait until he leaves. Or wait until another weak person doesn't notice, eat it in secret, and that's it, nothing happens. It's a chicken sandwich, it's a piece of turkey, and that's it. We who have knowledge must act prudently towards weak people who still need, brothers, to understand that a plate of food will not make you sin, it will not cause you to fall into sin. It is a plate of food. On one occasion, a brother pastor, brothers, from the church, a colleague in the work. On one occasion, a colleague in the work told us, brothers, a testimony of a situation he went through a long time ago. The brother told how he was in a small church where the economic situation was quite, brothers, delicate, and the brothers could barely, brother, afford to support the minister, the brother. And a neighbor lady who lived across the street, who was Catholic, came. And that Catholic lady had affection for the brother minister. And always, brother, when she cooked or invited him somewhere, to a birthday, she always brought little things, brother, for the children and fed the minister, shared with the minister's wife, that Catholic lady. Well, on one of those occasions, brother, the lady had a celebration in honor, a Catholic festival that they have, brother, for the dead. In each country it is different, but there, brothers, in Latin America, they celebrate this for the dead once a year. And the lady comes, prepares the food, and tells one of her daughters, "Look, take this food to the brother, to the caretaker, to the minister, the pastor," they say. And it turns out that one of the neighbors who was there, who was from the church, saw how the kind lady brought, brothers, food to the brother and his family. Brothers, in the five o'clock prayer, they had nothing to eat, and they, brother, cried out to the Lord, Lord, provide a way, I need to feed my children, we need to eat, and we have nothing to eat. And so, brother, God provided through this kind lady, so that once again she remembered that passage from the Bible about the body when it brings food, brothers, to the man of God. Thus this Catholic woman brought food, brothers, to the minister. And when that member saw that the minister began to eat the Catholic lady's food, he began, brothers, to talk and say things and criticize the minister, brothers, and he went to a brother on the commission, and when the brother on the commission heard this from that member, he said, "Brother, better shut up." You should be ashamed that a gentile is more liberal than you, who knows her obligations and doesn't fulfill them. That brother on the commission, the finance brother, exhorted that brother because he was criticizing the caretaker, brothers, for his little meal. Perhaps he told the brother, the brother didn't even have anything to eat. And you are criticizing him instead of bringing him something to eat, because it is your responsibility. Just as the minister has obligations, you also have obligations to him as a member to bring him a little food, and you are one of those brothers who doesn't do it. So, brother, a plate of food is not to blame, brother, it is not the fault of the brother who prepared it, it is the fault of the brother who ate it, it is the fault of the brother who gave it as a gift, nothing happens. But likewise, brother, there are indications like this that we must be patient with weak people and, brothers, be prudent in our actions, because our God's word teaches us so. Your brother hopes that in some way he has made himself understood, and may all be for the honor and glory of the Lord. Your brother desires that the peace of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ may always dwell in the hearts of my brothers. May God keep and bless you in His holy and blessed name. Yeah.