WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.280 There is a conspiracy, or so it seems. It would not be difficult to assemble a very credible case that there is a worldwide high level conspiracy involving billions of pounds. 00:00:17.500 --> 00:00:25.000 ! A conspiracy that has been so effective and so powerful that millions of people have been taken in by it. 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:32.640 A conspiracy that has been going on for many years and it shows no sign of weakening. 00:00:34.219 --> 00:00:38.159 It's the great conspiracy to conceal the truth about Christmas. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:46.840 And when it cannot be concealed, it is just kept confused and mixed up so that it's not really noticed much. 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:49.260 And it's certainly not taken seriously. 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:58.859 And the length to which the conspirators will go, so it seems, to keep the truth about Christmas from coming out, is extraordinary. 00:00:59.960 --> 00:01:05.840 Hundreds, I suspect thousands, of alternative Christmas stories have been devised and promulgated. 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:11.319 And for the weeks before Christmas, the whole community is thrown into madness. 00:01:13.099 --> 00:01:16.939 Frantic shopping. You've noticed that, haven't you? 00:01:16.939 --> 00:01:29.939 And as the community panics, and it ensures that no one has any energy left to inquire, let alone think, about the truth about Christmas. 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:39.900 Now, I don't know whether you're inclined towards conspiracy theories or not, but let me suggest to you that this one is as credible as any. 00:01:39.900 --> 00:01:47.000 Of course, you might rightly ask, well, why would anyone want to conceal the truth about Christmas? 00:01:48.580 --> 00:01:55.340 For this conspiracy theory to stand up, there has to be a credible motive for such an international scheme. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:02.120 Could anyone have a vested interest in hiding the truth about Christmas? 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:04.900 Well, the answer is too right they could. 00:02:06.140 --> 00:02:07.800 Because the truth about Christmas is powerful. 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:16.120 The truth about Christmas is that it is able to change people in ways that some people do not want to be changed. 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:26.659 And once you see the truth about Christmas, there is no difficulty at all in understanding a credible motive for a conspiracy. 00:02:26.659 --> 00:02:33.539 Now, my task this evening, should I choose to accept it, is to thwart this conspiracy. 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:41.400 And I choose to do that tonight by openly displaying the peach document that you've got in your hands. 00:02:43.659 --> 00:02:54.199 It's a document which, to the best of my knowledge, is the fullest and most authoritative statement of the truth about Christianity that there is anywhere in the world. 00:02:54.199 --> 00:03:01.519 Mind you, this document has been hidden, and it's been well hidden for many, many years because it's in the Bible. 00:03:02.939 --> 00:03:14.579 And the conspirators have been remarkably successful in our day, it would seem, because many, many, many people have been conned into never opening the Bible. 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:17.060 Alone reading it. 00:03:17.060 --> 00:03:22.620 And as long as that goes on, the truth will remain concealed and hidden. 00:03:24.140 --> 00:03:28.920 But my task tonight, in the brief time that I've got, is to defy the courts and forces of concealment. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:33.879 And to open this document before you, in defiance of all opposition, I want you to hear the truth tonight. 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:35.659 So you ready? Here goes. 00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:36.819 Verse 1. 00:03:37.020 --> 00:03:40.159 When I say verses, that is the little numbers that are on the sheet. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:40.800 You'll see them there. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:42.219 So verse 1. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.020 In the beginning was the Word. 00:03:47.780 --> 00:03:50.760 And the Word was with God. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.680 And the Word was God. 00:03:56.420 --> 00:03:57.439 It's very simple. 00:03:57.920 --> 00:04:01.100 He was with God in the beginning. 00:04:01.220 --> 00:04:08.060 The first truth about Christmas is the reality that lies behind the scenes of life. 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:13.699 We live, and maybe you live, very much for this world. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:25.779 We learn very much, shall we, about what we know about this life and this world, very largely in terms of what we see and hear and what we feel. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:29.720 But do you ever stop to wonder, is there anything else? 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:34.300 The first truth about Christmas is this, that there is more to life. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:41.460 That there is more to reality than what you hear and see and feel in the beginning. 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:45.940 Before there was anything else, there was the Word. 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:48.480 What does that mean, the Word? 00:04:49.640 --> 00:04:50.820 It goes on, doesn't it? 00:04:51.020 --> 00:04:56.300 The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 00:04:56.300 --> 00:04:58.740 And that is very, very confusing. 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:02.340 It's very confusing, and it's obviously confusing. 00:05:02.699 --> 00:05:04.699 And it's hardly surprising that it's confusing. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:10.660 Because we are talking about something that will stretch the biggest and the ablest of minds. 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:18.580 We're talking about the reality behind the reality that we know by our senses. 00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:21.620 A reality that's always been there. 00:05:22.099 --> 00:05:27.680 A reality which is called here, the Word, which was both with God, and can you see it? 00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:29.039 And was God. 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:34.939 Now just in case you're drifting off for a moment, and you're thinking this is really irrelevant and abstract. 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:36.180 Do listen to the next verse. 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:37.819 In verse 2, it goes like this. 00:05:39.719 --> 00:05:40.240 Verse 3. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:44.280 All things were made through him. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:51.079 And without him, there wasn't anything made that was made. 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:55.139 That verse is really simple, and yet it's deeply profound. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:00.400 All things were made, all things were made through the Word. 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.519 The Word which was with God and was God. 00:06:03.840 --> 00:06:05.400 And that is an ultimate statement. 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:11.359 This is about the source of all existence and all life. 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:19.459 And very much of our modern world has been conned, and it's been conned into a comfortable and dangerous lie. 00:06:20.719 --> 00:06:24.560 It is the lie that all of this is here by accident. 00:06:25.219 --> 00:06:26.579 The whole thing is an accident. 00:06:28.159 --> 00:06:29.560 Everything is an accident. 00:06:29.859 --> 00:06:32.199 Time plus chance accounts for it all. 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:35.439 That is comfortable in some ways. 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:40.180 It means that ultimately there is no responsibility. 00:06:41.159 --> 00:06:42.219 Every teenager's dream. 00:06:43.420 --> 00:06:44.819 But to be fair, not just teenagers. 00:06:46.379 --> 00:06:49.459 It's comfortable to think in some ways that we're here by accident. 00:06:50.379 --> 00:06:52.000 We're alive by accident. 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:53.560 We die by accident. 00:06:54.379 --> 00:06:58.779 It's comfortable, and for that reason alone, without a scrap of evidence, 00:06:58.779 --> 00:07:01.819 and against the plain facts of life, many people believe it. 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:05.479 And they base their lifestyle on that belief. 00:07:07.039 --> 00:07:11.759 And so the second truth about Christmas is that that comfortable belief is false. 00:07:13.219 --> 00:07:14.240 It is wrong. 00:07:16.339 --> 00:07:17.300 It is a lie. 00:07:19.339 --> 00:07:20.039 All things. 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:21.319 Can you see that in verse 3? 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:22.339 It's remarkable, isn't it? 00:07:23.180 --> 00:07:26.699 That is a very comprehensive expression. 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:31.680 All things are utterly dependent on the word. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:36.139 All things are completely indebted to the word for their very existence. 00:07:36.719 --> 00:07:40.339 The word which was with God from the very beginning, and which was God. 00:07:40.339 --> 00:07:41.779 Now, what is this going to do with Christmas? 00:07:42.500 --> 00:07:42.939 Everything. 00:07:44.859 --> 00:07:51.019 Because the document before you and before me tells me just a few sentences on from here, 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:54.339 what happens when Jesus Christ is born. 00:07:54.419 --> 00:07:54.899 Listen to it. 00:07:55.879 --> 00:07:58.559 Because we're coming to the point that will shatter the conspiracy. 00:07:59.419 --> 00:08:02.539 Here's the third truth about Christmas, and the heart of it all. 00:08:02.779 --> 00:08:04.079 Listen to look at verse 14. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.599 And the word became flesh. 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:11.019 And dwelt a mass. 00:08:12.259 --> 00:08:13.539 And lived a mass for a while. 00:08:15.139 --> 00:08:16.300 And it's not what you will hear. 00:08:17.719 --> 00:08:21.299 It's not what you will take in, if the conspirators have their way. 00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:23.680 And it is extraordinary. 00:08:23.980 --> 00:08:24.879 Have you heard it? 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:25.759 Just let me repeat it. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.960 The word which was in the beginning, was with God, and was God. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:36.180 The word which is the cause of all existence and life, became flesh, skin and bones. 00:08:37.539 --> 00:08:38.940 And lived a mass for a while. 00:08:40.019 --> 00:08:40.740 Have you taken that in? 00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:43.519 How do you react to that? 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:45.060 Now let's out. 00:08:45.059 --> 00:08:55.279 That might use a very important question, because the truth about Christmas is like a big beam of light that shines in the darkness. 00:08:57.019 --> 00:08:58.039 Our document puts it like this. 00:08:58.079 --> 00:08:59.199 You can see it in verse 5. 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:04.879 The light shines in the darkness. 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:12.659 The true light that gives light, verse 9, to everyone was coming into the world. 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:18.100 You see, tonight, if God is really there, and he is. 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:23.600 And if God is our maker and our judge, and he is. 00:09:25.100 --> 00:09:27.799 And if it is possible to know God, and it is. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:31.459 Then we live in a world of terrible darkness. 00:09:33.259 --> 00:09:37.600 For all the good things that there are in this world, and there are many, many good things in this world. 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:40.139 It is a world of terrible darkness. 00:09:40.139 --> 00:09:44.279 Because it is a world in which people do not see the truth. 00:09:46.100 --> 00:09:51.679 It is a world in which people do not acknowledge, and do not recognize, God. 00:09:53.779 --> 00:09:56.519 And into this world came the word. 00:09:57.319 --> 00:09:58.600 With the birth of Jesus. 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:02.179 The true light was coming into the world. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:02.819 And what happened? 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:06.860 Well, for a while he lived in the world which he had made. 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:07.460 And what happened? 00:10:07.460 --> 00:10:08.500 In verse 10. 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:09.240 Listen. 00:10:10.139 --> 00:10:12.480 He was in the world. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:17.019 And the world was made through him. 00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:22.120 Yet the world did not know him. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:25.279 Here is the crisis of Christmas. 00:10:26.460 --> 00:10:29.100 The word became flesh. 00:10:30.179 --> 00:10:31.519 And lived amongst us for a while. 00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:35.960 The true light has shone into this dark world. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:36.740 Jesus Christ. 00:10:36.740 --> 00:10:39.220 He has come and made himself known. 00:10:40.500 --> 00:10:45.320 And since that day there have only ever been two groups of people in the world. 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:50.240 We like to divide people, don't we? 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:51.920 In all sorts of ways. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:54.440 Young people and old people. 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:56.340 White people and black people. 00:10:57.660 --> 00:10:59.200 And rich people and poor people. 00:11:00.280 --> 00:11:03.080 We have all sorts of ways in which we group people together. 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:06.460 But really, when you scratch beneath the surface, there are just two groups of people. 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:09.500 And you belong to one or the other. 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:10.019 And so do I. 00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:15.100 This is the one big division in humanity that really matters. 00:11:15.400 --> 00:11:16.680 Which group you belong to. 00:11:18.580 --> 00:11:21.100 It really matters more than any other grouping matters. 00:11:21.300 --> 00:11:25.139 On one side you have the one who came into this world. 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:27.500 And he continues to be rejected. 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:30.240 It's put like this in verse 11. 00:11:30.340 --> 00:11:32.279 He came to his own. 00:11:32.419 --> 00:11:34.159 But his own did not receive him. 00:11:36.600 --> 00:11:38.639 There is one great group of people. 00:11:38.939 --> 00:11:39.779 A huge group of people. 00:11:39.899 --> 00:11:41.379 Tragically huge group of people. 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:43.199 Who continue and persist. 00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:45.419 In rejecting Jesus Christ. 00:11:45.699 --> 00:11:45.960 Why? 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:48.480 Why? 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:50.759 It's hard to look out why. 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:50.819 Why? 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:56.260 I think it's because we need his forgiveness. 00:11:57.160 --> 00:11:58.540 And that is very humiliating. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:04.760 I think it's something to do with the fact that Jesus Christ calls for our allegiance. 00:12:05.180 --> 00:12:06.000 And that is demanding. 00:12:07.740 --> 00:12:08.780 And so he's rejected. 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:13.860 Not, mind you, because this hasn't happened. 00:12:14.900 --> 00:12:15.900 It has happened, all right. 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:19.640 It's not because there's some mighty intellectual argument. 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:21.220 That tap, topples it all over. 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:21.679 There isn't. 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:25.080 It's not because there's some lack of evidence. 00:12:25.199 --> 00:12:26.899 Which demonstrates that it's not happened. 00:12:27.139 --> 00:12:28.179 There's more than enough evidence. 00:12:30.340 --> 00:12:32.159 He's rejected by one group of people. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.340 Because it's more comfortable. 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.019 It's easier to just ignore him. 00:12:38.019 --> 00:12:44.480 I wonder if you belong to that great group of people. 00:12:44.899 --> 00:12:45.220 Receive him. 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:50.100 You belong to that vast number of people. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:51.500 Who in this country will celebrate Christmas. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:52.720 Everyone celebrates Christmas. 00:12:53.179 --> 00:12:55.379 But who nevertheless continue to ignore him. 00:12:56.740 --> 00:12:58.419 And continue to reject the one who came. 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:01.899 So then there's this other group of people. 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:02.799 Can you see him in verse 12? 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:06.319 But to all who did receive him. 00:13:07.299 --> 00:13:09.620 Who believed in his name. 00:13:10.979 --> 00:13:12.979 He gave the right to become children of God. 00:13:15.419 --> 00:13:20.919 The crisis of Christmas is really simply how you and I respond to Jesus. 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:25.639 Once we know the truth about Jesus. 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:26.699 About Christmas. 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:29.299 How do we respond? 00:13:30.839 --> 00:13:32.539 I think there's a conspiracy going on. 00:13:32.620 --> 00:13:33.279 It's more deep. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:34.079 It's deeper. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:35.860 And it's more profound than any of us realize. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:39.799 There are forces at work which are blinding people to the truth. 00:13:41.500 --> 00:13:45.159 Doing all that is possible to keep the truth of Christmas from people. 00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:48.939 To keep people from seeing the truth about Christmas. 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:53.160 But God is greater than the conspirators. 00:13:55.780 --> 00:13:57.120 And whoever you are tonight. 00:13:57.240 --> 00:13:58.600 If you are here this evening. 00:14:00.280 --> 00:14:04.380 And you are aware that you belong to that first group of people. 00:14:05.520 --> 00:14:06.840 Who have ignored Jesus. 00:14:08.420 --> 00:14:12.800 I do want to invite you with all the persuasion that I can muster. 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:17.900 And I want to call on you in the name of Jesus to change this Christmas. 00:14:19.560 --> 00:14:20.860 What a Christmas this would be. 00:14:22.900 --> 00:14:25.680 That not only would you celebrate Christmas and all the stuff around it. 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:28.220 But this Christmas you opened your heart. 00:14:29.860 --> 00:14:31.160 You opened your life. 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:35.340 You bowed your knee before the king. 00:14:35.340 --> 00:14:40.620 And you received the one who came into this world to make God known. 00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:48.000 The word who was in the beginning with God and was God who became flesh and dwelt amongst us. 00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:50.159 Into his world. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:54.480 And there is so much to tell about him. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:55.899 To learn about him. 00:14:56.139 --> 00:14:57.339 To learn about what he has done for us. 00:14:57.459 --> 00:14:59.019 To learn what he has achieved for us. 00:14:59.459 --> 00:15:01.219 To learn what he will yet do for us. 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:03.779 To learn much about who he is. 00:15:03.839 --> 00:15:04.699 So much to learn. 00:15:04.899 --> 00:15:06.399 And you can only begin to learn. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.919 But when you receive him. 00:15:10.059 --> 00:15:11.720 And you stop rejecting him. 00:15:11.860 --> 00:15:13.100 When you accept him. 00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:15.279 And stop ignoring him. 00:15:16.699 --> 00:15:20.480 He gives you the right to become children of God. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:24.720 And I invite you this evening. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:28.039 In the quietness of your own heart. 00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:32.340 To consider which group of humanity do you belong to. 00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:35.320 And to receive him. 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:39.920 Because it is only those who receive him. 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:43.759 Who have the right to be called the children of God. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:47.000 Would you like to pray with me?