Our Advent theme is preparing to meet our God. Last week we talked about how so many people are unprepared to stand before God, yet they falsely think they will spend eternity with God even though most have no idea who He is, nor do they live by His word wholeheartedly. We are told Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil,” yet most do not fear God who Matthew 10:28 “can destroy both soul and body in hell.” The act of simply going to church will not prepare you to meet God, especially if the church you go to preaches a different Jesus and other gospels. Submission to God is not just for an hour on Sunday, but with our whole lives. Today is the second Sunday of Advent and another aspect of preparedness is to be mature. Ephesians 4:11 “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Unpreparedness is immaturity which means “the state of being immature or not fully grown.” For example, you would want a prepared and seasoned soldier to go into battle as opposed to an unprepared and immature soldier who has never seen battle, does not know how to use their weapons and runs at the sign of danger. The men who gathered around David were seasoned and mature warriors. 1 Chronicles 12:22 “Day after day men came to help David, until he had a great army, like the army of God.” They were described as brave and ready for battle. 

    The other day when I went to Costco, I realized the Christmas season had already started as the parking lot and store were packed already. I forgot how busy Costco gets this time of year. We can also see the Christmas season with the neighborhood houses that have been decorated and depending on what station you listen to, the songs of Christmas have been playing on the radio. The inflatable decoration has taken over Christmas, that is the secular Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I love the lights especially when it is snowing but the lights and decorations really isn’t what Christmas is about. This can be seen in the decorations of a house down our street. When it was halloween, they had the ghosts and the ghouls all over their yard and house but now it is Christmas and they have covered their yard and house with decorations, which are mostly inflatables. Everyone is aware that it is Christmas time, but most really have no idea what it is we are really celebrating. Christmas has become a marketing ploy to make money and every year the season will come and go. 

    But today this really isn’t about the world’s view on Christmas but the church’s view. Christmas also comes and goes in the church. Events are planned and the never-ending cycle of Christmas - Easter, Christmas – Easter continues year after year, but nothing ever changes. Meanwhile the meaning of both Christmas and Easter have been lost to being a date on the calendar that is celebrated year after year. It is no wonder the world celebrates something they know nothing about because the church has not grasped the true meaning of Christmas or Easter and the power that came with these events. Every year the Christmas story is recited but every year the church fails to bow and humble themselves before their King. Yes, Christmas is a celebration of God coming to save the world and the birth of Jesus changed the world forever, but the church remains stuck focusing on the manger as a bed for an infant and not a throne for a king. 

    Year after year the church gathers at Christmas to celebrate the coming of Jesus, our Messiah and King but it should not be just a once-a-year event as the church is Christmas, Easter, Lent, Pentecost every day. By making Christmas an event, the true meaning is lost as we can see with how Christmas is celebrated today. The greatest event in history has been turned into a marketplace and we know how Jesus feels about His temple being turned into a place for buying and selling. Matthew 21:12 “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.” The church is a huge marketplace with books, sermons music visions all being sold for profit. The very next verse shows that the church has continued to do as the money changers did because this is not happening in the church. 14 “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.” Yes, most in the church today cover up their powerlessness by saying this verse now means the spiritually blind and deaf. Yes, there are many that are spiritually blind and deaf but there are millions of people who need to be healed, which is what the church was supposed to be doing. 1 John 3:8 “The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” Jesus showed us what that work looked like, as did His disciples. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” Matthew 10:1 “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” That work was supposed to continue because at Pentecost, power and authority was given to the church to continue doing as Jesus did. Everyday should be a celebration of that power and authority to defeat our enemies. 

   The problem is the church does not have that power and authority it was supposed to have to defeat our enemies but instead the church is being defeated by the very enemy we were give power to defeat. Jesus said to Peter. Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Jesus also said to the disciples Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” The work Jesus started was to continue in the church as we saw in the early church. Acts 5:12 “The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.” Acts 8:5 “Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.”

    Just as Adam and Eve were removed from the garden and Israel and Judah removed from the Promised Land, the power and authority the church was given at Pentecost were removed from the church which means God has turned His face from the church. These yearly celebrations the church seems to think that are so important before God, are not. In fact God said, Amos 5:21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. 23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.” Isaiah 1:14 “Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!” Jeremiah 5:30 “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” Very quickly the church turned away from doing as Jesus did to doing as they desired, not with power and authority from on High but with the work of their own hands and minds. Christmas day was formally instituted Dec 25, 336AD and ever since the Christmas story has focused on the birth of Jesus. Luke 2:8 “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,  “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.” We were told Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” But John 1:9 “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” John 3:19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

    Though we do not know the actual date Jesus was born on, we do know that Jesus was born and yes that is to be celebrated but here is the problem. For many in the church Jesus is still a baby that is being worshipped. Jesus lying in a manger was a one-time event but over and over the church focuses on Jesus the baby and not Jesus the reigning King. Because the church turned away very quickly from the true meaning of Christmas and turned it into an event, as the church is so good at doing, the church stopped doing as Jesus our King and Messiah was doing, even though the church was given power and authority to do the same as Jesus did. John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” These events of the church are powerless gatherings that as we read above, God is not interested in. Most people do not want to hear that God was not interested in the amazing Christmas concert they just attended. Church was not supposed to be an event you went to but was supposed to be about the power and authority given to us by Jesus to do as He did. Yes the church does meet together but the purpose of the church was supposed to go out into the world not going into a building and remaining there. 

    It is time to move on from the manger. Now don’t get me wrong, the event of Jesus birth changed the world. Revelation 11:15 “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 12:10 “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah.” But Jesus did not stay a baby. Luke 2:52 “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 4:16 “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

    By keeping Jesus in the manger, the church becomes like the baby they worship. That may sound like a good thing as we are supposed to be like Jesus. Paul said 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Matthew 10:24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!” Aside from not testing the spirits, immaturity and lack of knowledge is one of the greatest problems in the church. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” Earlier we read Ephesians 4:11 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” The verse doesn’t stop there, and Paul goes on to say, 14 “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

    Have you ever been to an event where a baby is crying and the parent doesn’t take the baby out but instead tries to quiet the baby and remains seated? Now picture yourself speaking to a group of people where the baby is crying, and you will see a disconnect as people begin to look at where the sound is coming from. At that point you can stop talking. Some will think how cute, and others will think how annoying. One time when I was speaking, a baby was really crying and the parent didn’t take the baby out of the service. I actually had to stop the service and ask someone to help the parent out, which meant to calm the baby in another location. Theoretically I shouldn’t have had to ask as someone from the congregation should have helped. I am sure everyone, maybe not from the front while speaking, has experienced this. I say this to get you to picture this in your mind, but I want you to picture not just one baby crying, but many, all making noise during a service. I understand that not all babies do this and not all parents remain in the service, but the picture that I am trying to convey is a church filled with infants, immature and unprepared to meet God. I am not trying to be harsh but picture a church filled with people with soothers in their mouths or being bottle-fed.

    This verse really sums up today’s church. Hebrews 5:11 “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” When Jesus selected His disciples, they were sent out to do as He did, in the same power and authority. What we have in today’s church are people gathering to hear someone speak to them and scratch their ears week after week. The next verses address the worldly Christian. Those two words don’t go together. 1 Corinthians 3:1 “I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?” Paul also said, 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Peter says it differently 1 Peter 2:1 “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” You are supposed to crave the truth so that you can become mature.

    Next time you gather at church, look around and picture people being bottle fed and sucking on soothers. Make sure it is not you, but if it is, seek to become mature. Unfortunately, being bottle fed seems to be what people want and what leaders are willing to give them. The day is coming when true teachers will be hidden no longer. Isaiah 30:20 “Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah also said Isaiah 30:9 “For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. 10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” Paul said to Timothy 2 Timothy 4:1 “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” That time is already here as is the famine of hearing God’s word. Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.”

    At the beginning I talked about wanting experienced, mature and prepared warriors for battle, but the amazing part about the power and authority that God wants to give us is, His presence changes us into those kinds of warriors. Peter feared for his life and denied Jesus even though he had been with him. In fact, all the disciples fled. Then at Pentecost everything changed. These men did not fear for their lives, but preached the word of God boldly. Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” 13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” 18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” With God’s power, it did not matter that they were unschooled and ordinary men.

    Not only do we need to be prepared to meet God, but we also need to be prepared for battle as the church is at war and presently losing the battle that we were given power and authority to win. The first step is to repent. Mark 1:14 “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” Then we need to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 13:1 “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Psalm 144:1 “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”

    We are told Zechariah 1:3 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” When we return to God’s word and God turns His face back to shine upon us, His power and authority will return, and the church will once again do as Jesus did. As Paul said Ephesians 4:14 “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” Jesus is no longer a baby and we should not be either. He is our King and we should be worshipping Him with our lives, not just our lips. No longer should this be said about the church. Mark 7:6 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” 9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” But instead, Hosea 2:23 “I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” Psalm 144:12 “Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace. 13 Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields; 14 our oxen will draw heavy loads. There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets. 15 Blessed is the people of whom this is true; blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.”