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There are now only 11 shopping days left before Christmas, so I hope you have at least made a dent in your things-to-do list. My poor dad this past week has been upon a step ladder, stringing strand after strand of lights around their house so that when "the boys" get there as my brother and I are called, everything will look pretty and holiday cheery. Christmas day has always been a big event in our family, and as a result the days before Christmas have always been one of hurrying, busyness, and bustle. As you know, Christmas is now a major economic event in America, and many stores will make enough money during this holiday season to pay for their entire year's expenses! More money is spend during this time than at any time of the year, and that is why every year the Christmas stuff gets put up earlier and earlier, now some stores were hanging lights and such in August! When I was growing up, we sometimes did not take down the lights until May!! Pretty soon, it will get to where you can leave everything up, just keep the tree in the corner and dust it real good because there will not be any time between clean up and get ready time for Christmas.

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The term "Christmas" is the English version of the Latin term "Christmasse" which means Christ's mass and is the title given to the holiday by the Catholic Church when they decided to proclaim December 25 as the day to celebrate Christ's birth. As they usually did, their theologians missed it on the day of Christ's birth rather badly. That's not surprising when you realize that Napoleon, who just a couple of hundred years ago decided to renumber the years into the system that we have now, wanted the years to start with zero at Christ's birth and even missed the year! Jesus Christ was born in the late spring of the year A.D. 4. Modern studies have pinpointed the actual date somewhere around our May 20th. He died right before His 34th birthday in the mid spring of A.D. 30.

Now we understand that the concept of "mass" does not get it's origins in scripture and that the date is wrong, yet it is no sin to celebrate Christmas in December. Jesus celebrated a winter festival of the Jews that had no scriptural bearing whatsoever (John 10:22) but was a celebration of a civil Jewish holiday. Therefore, by His example we know that it is not wrong to celebrate, say, the 4th of July commemorating our nation's independence. And if it is not sinful to celebrate the 4th, then certainly it is in order during any time or period of the year to celebrate a much greater new beginning: the coming of Jesus Christ! It is because of the life, ministry, and blood of Jesus Christ that we can have our independence from sin. It is because of Jesus Christ that we have the hope to one day live forever in a much better place. Without Jesus Christ, then man's history would become a sad tale of how a smart, but sinful man forever lost out on the blessings of God, but because of Jesus Christ's birth in this sinful world, we know that there is hope for having a spiritual birth of Jesus Christ within our own lives. Surely the God who loved us enough to make the effort to come into an unholy world in order to give them a chance at life, will love me though I appear unlovable and surely -- if I will obey His Word -- He will live inside me to bring order into my chaotic, sinful world.

To me, that is the true message of Christmas: He did not scoff being born into a stable, and in fact, because He was the King of Kings, turned the stable into a throne room! That's the effect of the greatest King of the Universe coming into a place, no matter how lowly. I've been in Versailles and some of the most beautiful palaces in France and Europe, and they are pretty museums, but there is no power or presence there. In fact, there is a great feeling of emptiness and a lack of life because the king does not reside there. It is then not the fineness of the buildings that make a place a throne room, but rather the presence of majesty. That stable that humble night may not have been the finest room of choice in Bethlehem, but it certainly became the most important and the most blessed -- not because of it's decor or reputation -- but because of the presence of the King!

Christ's birth then is representative of what we all need in our lives: a spiritual conception within our natural bodies. The scriptures say that Mary conceived when the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. And so it is today: Jesus comes into our life when the Holy Spirit overshadows us and causes life to come forth within us! We are natural and sinful human beings, and yet when the spiritual conception comes forth in our life, Jesus once again moves into what before would have been considered one of the lowest and most unthinkable places for the God of the universe to dwell: a sinful, fleshly, and imperfect human being! But I'm glad to tell you, that although the furnishings may not be impressive, when the King of Kings moves in He is able to transform a person's life into a throne room of heaven! When you get the Holy Ghost, you have had your personal Christmas in your own life, and that was only made possible by the original Christmas day, the birth of Christ. Oh, we have a reason to celebrate today because we are not just celebrating an event that took place 2,007 years ago, but something that took place recently in our lives: the miracle of Christmas has happened in our lives! It's more than just a good story! It's more than just history!

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The title of my sermon is "the Days Before and After Christmas." We'll get to the "days after Christmas" in a moment, but perhaps I'm preaching to somebody today who is living in the "Days Before Christmas." Perhaps you have never experienced the power of the Holy Ghost overshadowing your life and placing the new life that Jesus Christ bring within your life. Maybe you are uncertain whether or not you can even get the Holy Spirit or not. Maybe you feel as if God is distant from you and that you are having a hard time getting into His presence. I want you to realize that the story of the wise men gives you the perfect example of what to do during the days before Christmas if you want to get to Jesus.

During the days before the first Christmas, perhaps even years before that miraculous birth, the wise men in the east learned of some prophecies of the Messiah/King of the Jews that was to be born. We know from their name in the Greek text, that these men were descendants of the Magi, the magicians and sorcerers, and astrologers who had worked alongside the prophet Daniel in the Persian Empire. They were not true believers, at least not at first, in the one God of Israel. No doubt that many of them were in idolatry. But they also were reading some copies of the scriptures that no doubt were handed down from the time of Daniel 600 years earlier. The wise men may not have been in total truth, but they were thorough, hungry, and smart. From the prophecies of Daniel, they could roughly pinpoint the year or a several year period in which the Messiah was to be born. There is only one Old Testament prophecy, however, that prophesied about a great star that would appear at the birth of the Messiah, and it is not found in the writings of Daniel, but is buried within a story about a false prophet named Balaam in the book of Numbers.

What that means is that these men, whose religion was far from truth, had begun to search the scriptures and compare prophecies on the subject of the Messiah. The star prophecy is not easily found even today -- you've got to know where to look and what you are looking for. The fact that these men were so well learned of the Hebrew scriptures that they made the connection that the star would accompany the Messiah, means that they had somewhat changed their life from idolatry and other pursuits and had begun to devote their time and energy into studying the Word of God.

If you are living in the days before your personal Christmas -- or even if you are in the days after -- we need to follow the example of these wise men and search the scriptures. Only through careful study and application of God's Word, will we be able to come to Jesus and worship Him as He desires us to do! And not only did these wise men begin to search the scriptures, but they began to believe that these prophecies were for them, personally! They were Gentiles (non Jewish people) yet as they began to read the prophecies of this savior to be born, how that He would be the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), they somehow got the spark that perhaps such a God come to earth would be more than just the God of the Jews, but perhaps these prophecies were for them to be blessed as well!

And so these men were so moved by what they were learning in God's Word, that they begin to diligently prepare for a journey to go see Him. We understand that they did not get there on the night of Jesus' birth, but they did not waste any time either. They had no idea how far they were going. They had no idea where they were going. But they began to prepare. We know this from the fact that the word for "gold" that is used for their gift means "something fashioned from refined gold." They had gifts specially prepared for this king, should they have the opportunity to meet Him. We know that they had to prepare for their journey because both frankincense and myrrh takes months to cultivate from the sap of certain trees and to be ground into powder. We know that they prepared for this tremendous journey because they were able to arrive to worship Jesus while He was still quite young, and yet they had come from hundreds of miles of desert from the east.

Can I preach to you a little bit this morning? Too many people want God to jump on them and solve all of their problems for them without doing any preparation or "getting ready" to see the King. God will not just "jump on you." You've got to desire to see Him. If you want the Holy Ghost, you've got to want it with everything within you. And you've got to read the scriptures and believe that they are for you. You've got to believe that the promise that Peter made in Acts chapter 2 a long time ago is more than just about something for the Jewish people only. You, a Gentile, have got to believe that God can still do it for you and then you must prepare your life. You've got to take away devoting time to other things that you deem are more important than God and His scriptures. You must "repent of your sins." That means more than just saying that you are sorry, but that is a desire expressed to God that you want a complete change of lifestyle. That you want to live differently than you are living. What are you doing when you repent? you are getting ready to take a journey to your personal Christmas Day! You are getting ready for the King of Glory to move in!

And too many people want to know everything that is required of them before they make the commitment to God. They want to know how far they will have to go before they set out for Jesus! They want to give their life to God with stipulations: "God, I want the Holy Ghost, but not if it means that I have to do that, or go there, or minister that way, or stop doing that." What you are saying is that you will serve God as long as you don't have to go far out of your way! You will never get the Holy Ghost and the life of liberty that God want you to have with that attitude. Learn a lesson from the wise men: no matter what it took or cost, they were going to see Jesus! No matter how far they had to travel and when they had to leave, they were getting ready to go! That's why they found the king. Perhaps there were others that saw the star and wondered in their heart about the prophecies, but they put off the journey till another day -- they didn't see the king. Perhaps there were some who thought "I don't know how far I'll have to go so I'll just stay where I'm at" -- they didn't see the king. But God give us the attitude of the wise men: whatever and wherever I have to go and do, nothing will keep me from getting to Jesus!

If you trace a line from Persia in the East to Bethlehem on a topographical map, you will immediately notice the rugged terrain between the two locations. First there are great expanses of desert that must be crossed. Then as you get closer there are some of the largest mountains and valleys in that part of the world. But you see the wise men were determined: nothing was going to stop them from getting to Jesus! Perhaps you've had some hard times in trying to serve God, maybe there have some ups and downs, but whatever you do, don't let any down time or a period of a lack of faith stop you: keep walking; keep traveling; I must not stop until I get to Jesus!

So they prepared and they waited, and when the light of truth from God came, they followed it. They did not turn to the right or the left. They did not get bogged down with their traditions about stars and constellations of their Persian belief, but they kept their eyes on the truth of God's Word and they followed the light to the general area of where Jesus Christ was. When they got there, they found the local king, Herod, and asked him and his Jewish advisors where the exact city was that Jesus would be born.

You see, the wise men had gotten part about what year the Messiah would have been born, and they had also gotten the fact that a star would accompany His birth, but they had not found all of the truth, the part about how that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Maybe they had never read that particular part of scripture. But for whatever reason, they didn't know about that, so when they got to Jerusalem, they stopped by Herod who was the king of the Jews. Surely the Jewish leaders would know and be anxiously awaiting their king which had been heralded thousands of years earlier. If a few Gentile wise men could put all of this together, then certainly the people who had been reading the scriptures for years, who were kin to Daniel and to whom the scriptures were written, would be also anxiously and excitedly awaiting the King of Kings.

But they were not. Oh, when asked the Jewish counselors knew about the prophecy and they knew the exact town of Bethlehem, but they were not excited because they had heard it all before. And in their "religious knowledge" and indifference, they had missed the greatest event of their own history!

One of the greatest things that you must do on your quest to get to Jesus is to walk in the light of God's Word. Allow the Spirit of God to reveal His truth to you. You cannot approach God and the Bible with an "I already know it all" attitude, because, if you do, then you are in great danger of missing the entire purpose of the revelation! Understand that probably what you first learned about God is not the complete and total truth. Understand that God allows you to see part the truth to get you closer and closer to Jesus Christ. But you cannot see part of the light and then stop somewhere in the desert and say that you have all that you need. You've got to keep allowing truth to guide you closer to Jesus every day. And that goes for those of you who have the Holy Ghost as well as those who do not. We have not arrived, and I must continue to walk toward the truth of Jesus Christ. I must continue to get closer and closer to this King of Kings. I must get further an further away from my past and closer to and closer to His perfect ideal. I must never stop following the light.

You also cannot be disheartened because of some dead head that has had the Holy Ghost for years and has become cold and unexcited. Don't allow yourself to become distracted by someone who is spiritually indifferent to the prophecies and promises of God. Just realize that because of your hunger, you'll probably get closer to Jesus than they ever will, and just use whatever help they can bring you without allowing their lukewarmness to affect you spiritually! Keep following the light, don't get your eyes on the motives or spiritual indifference of some! You are going to meet some Herod's who are using God rather than being used of God. You are going to meet people in the church who study scripture and yet have the wrong motives. Be like the wise men. Don't get sidetracked. Remember that you came this far because of Jesus, and you will not be satisfied until you one day bow before His throne! Whatever it takes, I must push through in the Days before my personal Christmas!

The star got them to Bethlehem and then disappeared a while before reappearing again to lead them to the stable in Bethlehem. Don't get impatient with God. Don't go back home to a land of idolatry and wickedness. Don't stop short and give up. If you've come this far, then don't leave without seeing Jesus. There is a purpose in everything. Allow God's plan to unfold as He has ordained.

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But not only is this story an accurate portrait of how to get to Jesus, it is also a lesson in how to properly respond once you have had a personal Christmas through the power of the Holy Ghost overshadowing your life. It is not enough to just get to Jesus. It is not enough just to get to the place of birth, but we must follow the scriptural example of how to act in the days after Christmas has taken place.

In the days after Christmas, we find that the Wise men worshipped Jesus. It wasn't enough just to be in His presence. They did not show up in the house where He lay just to say that they had been there. They had come with one purpose: to worship Him. It's not enough to just receive the Holy Ghost overshadowing you once. It's not enough to come to church and be in the same room with the presence of God, but we must learn to worship Him!

There is a thought and movement today that worship does not involve physical motion or emotion. There are many people that think just being in and feeling the presence of Jesus is enough. They think that outward expressions of praise and worship is unnecessary. But notice the example of the wise men: the scriptures say that they "fell down" and worshipped. They were emotional. They expressed their reverence and thankfulness with outward motions. In the presence of a great King, such praise was in order. In fact, to NOT show such emotion would have been out of order. When you get a revelation of how great Jesus Christ is, then you will realize the importance of your worship. You will realize the importance of clapping your hands, crying out to Him, kneeling before Him, raising your hands, leaping for you, doing something to express your emotions before Him. Because He is so great, it is out of order NOT to get emotional. He is so worthy and so deserving that is actually out of place to just stand there. Realize that when you enter a room where the presence of Jesus Christ is, His very greatness demands a response. And you can always tell those to whom much has been forgiven. You can tell those who had to endure the mountains and valleys of persecution and personal trials to get into His presence. You can easily spot those who had to come the longest to get to where they are in God, because there is something that begins to rise up within them as it did in the wise men: "I've come too far to see Him, just to stand here." "He's done too much for me, and He is too special for me not to give the glory of which He so richly deserves!" The proper response in the days after Christmas is to worship Him!

Outward expressions of praise are an integral part of worship, but they are not the ingredient. There IS more to worship than just emotion. Worship is much deeper than just outward praise. Even the wise men showed us that it must go beyond that.

The scriptures say that the wise men did not come empty handed, but in their worship, they brought gifts to give to Jesus Christ. These gifts represented the devotion and sacrifice of their lives. They were not casually thought about and carelessly purchased. They were not shopping for a distant uncle that they only see once in a while, but they were carefully composed gifts fit for the person that to whom they were worshipping.

How much thought and effort do we put into our worship? Is it thoughtless repetition? Is it half-hearted adoration? Or is it special to us? We used to have Christmas with members of our extended family with whom I had little in common and saw only once or twice a year. The gifts that I selected for them was not expensive and was not special. More often than not, my distant cousins received something practical and whatever was on sale at the first store that I entered. My gift reflected my true feelings about our relationship. The gift expressed the distance in our companionship. But when I was engaged, I agonized over what to get my beloved! It was special to me because I wanted just the right gift to express how I really felt! Money was no object. Time spent searching and preparing was not a worry. When she opened her gift(s), I wanted to see her eyes sparkle! I wanted the gift to reflect how deeply I cared for her.

What does the gift of your worship show about your love for God today? As God unwrapped the gift of your praise in this service and received it into His throne room, what did it tell Him? Did His eyes sparkle at the whole hearted sincerity of your worship, or did He feel as if He was receiving just a token gift? The lesson of the wise men is this: Jesus deserves the best! He deserves more than just token sacrifices of praise!!

Worship is more than just token praise. It is also more than just outward expressions. The ingredients of the wise men's gift of worship was three fold: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

1. Gold - The word for "gold" here in the Greek, is not the basic word for the metal but means "something formed and shaped out of refined gold." The wise men did not give Jesus raw ore or rock, but something that had been through the fire and refined!

To be refined, gold must be repeatedly crushed to be separated from the worthless earth that hold it. It then must be melted down over the fire. When gold is melted, the impurities rise to the surface where they can be skimmed away. The gold is then allowed to cool and the process is repeated with more impurities being removed each time. The more times the gold is "refined," the more precious and pure that it is.

Understand why God allows trials and hardships to still come in your life after you come to Him. The trials and persecutions are there to melt away the world from us. They are to cause the impurities to come to the surface so that they can be cast away. Going through one of the worst trials of his life, Job said:

To make us pure, we must be melted down until the things that are not like Him are removed. For all of us, this will not be a one time process. You may grow weary of the breaking process and wonder if it will ever end, but remember that God is using life and circumstances and storms to make your life into something of great value to Jesus Christ. Allow Him to shape and mold you into something profitable for the kingdom of God. That's the sort of Christmas present that Jesus Christ is worthy of. After all did not He allow His own life to be broken for us?!

Remember that we are talking about worship. How you respond in everyday trials is worship when you stay faithful to God. When you have every reason to quit, but you stay strong, that is bringing Him gold! You are worshipping Him with much more than just emotion, but you are bringing a sacrifice of praise into the throne room every time you refuse to give in!

2. Frankincense - Literally in the Greek, "incense." It was offered in the temple daily before God and represents praise and prayer and worship. The key point is that every time someone went into the presence of God, they had to take incense with them. Can I tell you that to worship as the wise men worshipped, we must praise, and pray, and worship on other days than on Sundays. Think back to this past week. Did you really take time in those days to spend with God? Can you honest say that in this past week, that you worshipped at a time when you were not at the church? Have you spoke to Jesus this week? Have you expressed your thankfulness to Him? The frankincense was also sprinkled upon the bread in the temple, which represents the Word of God. Did you take time to read His Word or study His scriptures? Did you ask Him to help you with your everyday problems? Did you bring the gift of frankincense to God this past week? He's worthy of it!

3. Myrrh - a sweet ointment used for embalming. It is always associated with death. It is profound that the wise men supplied this baby with burial needs! Perhaps they had a revelation beyond even what Mary and Joseph had about the purpose of this little boy! He was literally born to die!

So are we. We are born again to die to our old fleshly selves. God allows the Holy Ghost to bring new life so that we will die out to the way that we used to be. Just receiving the Holy Ghost is not enough. Just being in His presence and giving outward expressions of worship is not a complete gift of praise. Our worship is not perfected until we are willing to die out to our old fleshly desires and lifestyle. Even after you receive the Holy Ghost, you will be tempted to return to sin. You will be tempted in some areas to just stay the same. But offer to Jesus the sacrifice of myrrh. Be willing to die out to your fleshly desires! Live in the new life that Jesus Christ has given you in your personal Christmas!

The sacrifice of myrrh is followed by the greatest lesson of the wise men. After they had worshipped, God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. The scriptures say that they returned home a different way from which they had come. Perhaps you came into here battling some things. Perhaps your praise was a bad reflection of your love for Jesus. Maybe you have strayed this week from walking in the light of God's Word and love. Whatever you do, don't go home the same way you came. The wise men proved that when you worship Jesus with the completeness of worship, you must not; you cannot return the same way! There has to be a difference in your life and your walk! Make up in your mind right now that you are going to get some things settled before this service is over. That there is going to be another fresh start today. That you will not go back home without having praised Him. That you will not go back home with what you came in here with!