WEBVTT 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:08.720 This podcast is a ministry of Grant Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:14.400 For more information about Grant Parkway, visit Grantparkway.org. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:15.759 Let's pray together. 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:19.120 Lord Jesus, one of the ways that we give you glory is by waiting. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.239 We're not waiting to be rescued from something. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:26.320 We're waiting for the culmination, for the fulfillment, for the fullness of time. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:30.960 And for a lot of people, time is emptying out, but for the believer, time is filling up. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:33.840 And when the fullness of time has come, you're going to come again. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:40.799 So we are standing here this morning in the deliberate tension of Advent between your first coming and your second coming. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:45.359 And so, Lord, we're people of hope, and we wait not as punishment, but as preparation. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.759 So waiting is an act of worship for us. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:54.399 And so let what we hear today from your word inform and shape our posture and our praise as people. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:01.119 And so we wait here with our hands lifted high because we believe in a God who's coming to get us. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:02.719 And so we long for that. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.560 But in the meantime, we don't drift. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:06.000 We're people of certainty. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:14.480 So, Lord, speak to us about this hope that is ours because of the gospel, because of the sufficiency of Jesus and his work on the cross. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:19.040 God, infuse us with a greater understanding of the hope that is ours. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:26.000 So that when we go out in the world this week, Lord, we'll have a we'll always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us. 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:31.439 Give us understanding and words for this hope that you put in us because of the gospel. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:32.480 We pray now. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:34.560 We desire this in Jesus' name. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.159 And so give it to us as our Father, and we your children, we pray. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:40.799 And all God's people said, Amen. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:41.680 You can have a seat. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:45.760 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Hebrews chapter 6. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:46.879 Uh, I want to talk to you. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:49.599 If you're our guest, some of you may have come in after the beginning of our service. 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:51.359 This is the first Sunday of Advent. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:54.159 And Advent is just a word that means coming or the arrival. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:59.200 And so each of our Sundays are structured leading up to our Christmas Eve service where this all culminates. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:03.439 Uh each of our services is structured just to kind of give us a deeper and fuller understanding. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:18.400 If you're our guest today, you need to understand that our services aren't supposed to, we don't, we don't plan our services to be sensational or to be this experience where you come and we got the roquettes up here, or we got like some famous person, as if there's anybody more famous than Jesus. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:22.800 But sometimes the church falls in love with famous people, or hey, so-and-so's gonna be here. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:32.719 Uh, and here's why it's because we want to equip you to to to be who the Bible says you are and to do what the Bible says you can do so that you're the experience. 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:42.240 So that somebody works in a cubicle besides you and they get the a whiff of the fragrant aroma of King Jesus, and they kind of go, hey, can we have lunch? 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:43.759 Uh can I buy you lunch? 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.439 Because I just want to understand something about your life that I really want. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:49.680 That's what our services are designed around. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:51.759 We want you to be the experience. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:53.360 We don't want to be the experience. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:56.319 And so today is the first Sunday of Advent, and our theme is hope. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:58.639 And so uh I get to I get this privilege. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:07.680 Here's the privilege of pastoring people instead of flitting around the country from church to church, just being in one place and being there for a long time, is you get to preach systematically. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:23.840 And what I mean by that is that last week I said some things and and we read a passage in Hebrews chapter 6, and it's like it was grave and then it was refreshing and kind of encouraging, and and and and and and I get to pick up where we left off last week, and I want to talk to you about the foundation of Advent hope. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:34.319 Because when the Bible talks about us being people of hope, it's not this willy-nilly, we kind of hope that Jesus is right, and just in case we're gonna cover all our bases. 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:35.199 No, no, no. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.599 We are all in on Jesus. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:40.719 That's we we don't have a plan B. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:42.240 And there is no plan B. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:49.520 And so when I say the foundation of Advent hope, I want that, I don't want you to hear that as thin and pallid and wispy. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:54.960 I want you to hear that is solid and meaty and real. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.080 You say, What do you mean? 00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:01.439 I'll start reading in verse 11, which by the way, I prayed this for every one of you uh this past week. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:04.240 Uh verse 11 of Hebrews chapter 6 says this. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:17.680 He says, and we desire that each one of you to show the same earnestness, to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.720 You can't have faith without being patient, okay? 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:24.160 But you say, Well, what what what do you mean you prayed this for me? 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:27.360 I prayed verse 11 for our church, and two things. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:30.560 He says, We desire each of you to show the same earnestness. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:31.920 That's the first thing I pray. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:49.519 That you would show this earnestness, that you wouldn't get to be 65 and just kick it into neutral and coast and just kind of uh hang out with your grandkids and get a lap dog and then wait for Jesus to come and kind of go, Well, I don't read the Bible anymore because I know all the stories. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:52.000 That that that's that's sluggishness. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:05:02.240 That's you're putting on yourself on a trajectory to be sluggish and the last 10, 15, 20 years of your life to be the most spiritually inconsequential of your entire life. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:04.800 And beloved, that's not what the gospel's about. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:13.600 And the second thing I prayed is he says there in verse 11, for you to have full assurance of hope, which translates literally the most certain confidence. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:15.759 So, what do you mean the full assurance of hope? 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:20.000 Uh, this is morbid, and if you're our guest today, just bear with me, okay? 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:22.800 The rest of you, you know what to expect. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.399 When I say to have the full assurance of hope, that sounds kind of like that. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:30.560 That's just that that sounds like the tooth fairy. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:32.160 To have the full assurance of hope. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:33.439 You're like, okay, thank you. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:34.399 This is what I mean. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:38.079 I want to come visit you in the hospital when you're dying. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:42.800 And you weigh 80 pounds because cancer has emaciated your body. 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:45.680 And everybody that comes to see you is like, aren't you so mad? 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:46.959 And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:48.000 I want to come see you. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:49.439 And I hope it's not anytime soon. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:53.839 Or I hope that all of you die old and full of years, like the Bible says of Job. 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:57.279 You're like 98 and you weigh 80 pounds. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:03.360 And I want to walk into your hospital room and just look at you and start maybe read some scripture and start praying. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:05.040 And I want you to interrupt me. 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:06.879 And I want you to just kind of look at me. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:12.079 I want you to grab me by the neck even and go, shut your mouth. 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:19.120 And then I want you to stand up in your hospital bed and rip your hospital gown open and start singing a cappella. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:22.959 My hope is built on nothing less. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:28.399 And they start marching in place than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:32.720 And the alarms start going off, beep, beep, beep, beep, and the nurses come running down the hall. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:40.800 I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but holy lean on Jesus' name. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:41.759 Join me, people. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:44.240 And then the nurses start singing, and I'm standing there. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.959 And you get to that end on Christ a solid rock. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:47.600 I stand. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:50.160 All other ground is sinking sand. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:53.120 I want you to collapse and die right there. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:59.519 And the nurses look at me and go, whoa, whoa, what did you do? 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:03.759 I preach the gospel to that crazy old man every Sunday. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:06.079 And he didn't finish sluggish. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:09.519 He finished well with this full assurance of hope. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:19.040 So, where we left off last week, I get to begin this week talking about the foundation of Advent hope because this is not some, well, I hope this is true. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:20.319 Like, I'm not sure. 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:21.680 No, no, no, no, no. 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:26.959 We are so sure that the Bible says this is like an anchor for our soul. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:29.600 You say, What do you mean? 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:40.959 And we desire to each of you to show the same earnestness, to have a full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:54.480 Verse 13, where we get at it this morning, for when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, Surely I will bless you and multiply you. 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:58.560 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:05.519 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes, an oath is final for confirmation. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:26.319 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:42.960 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus is gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchazadeh. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:46.399 The foundation of Advent hope is basically four things. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.639 Number one, it is the promise of God. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:50.159 It is the promise of God. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:54.240 Here is how how easily entertained your pastor is. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:02.000 Because I'm 50 now, and there's a banality and superficiality to our culture that I don't find a whole lot of it even interesting. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:05.759 Like I tried to watch TV this week, and it's just really hard for me. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:07.600 And it's not like I'm really spiritual. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.919 No, I like football because God wants men to like football, right, men? 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:12.559 I like that. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:16.320 And so, but I just try to watch like normal stuff, and I'm just like, really? 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:18.799 Is this what we've come to in America? 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:20.559 This is, oh wow. 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:22.639 I I could be reading a book or something. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:28.320 I'm gonna sit here, ah, and so, but here's how easily entertained I am when I talk about the promise of God. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:31.039 It's the first eight words of verse 13. 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:35.519 For when God made a promise to Abraham. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:39.039 For when God made a promise to Abraham. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:43.919 And I spent a whole day just meditating on that and like, God, why would you make a promise to Abraham? 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:44.320 What? 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:47.200 I mean, who is Abraham that you would and do you have to promise? 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:51.360 I mean, why do I and I just I just sat with that. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.320 And the answer became apparent pretty quickly. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:59.840 God just said, hey, my invitation that courses all through the Bible is this believe me. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:01.519 Believe me. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:10.000 If you've never read the Bible, when you pick it up, whether it's page one or page 987, on every page, God is saying the same thing. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.000 Would you please believe me? 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:17.039 Would you just please take me at my word and build your life on? 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:26.879 So much so that when Jesus comes in the New Testament, he says, Hey, hey, whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a man who builds his house on the rock. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:31.120 And the storms come and they beat against the house and it stands up. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.600 And he says, Hey, this is what it looks like to believe me. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:36.320 It doesn't mean you're perfect, it means you're sturdy. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.879 You're men who don't abandon your wife and kids. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:47.679 You're men who, when you lose your job, you look at your wife and kids at dinner and kind of say, Hey, I don't know what's gonna happen, but God does, and we're the people of God. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:50.320 So let's eat pancakes for supper. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:53.200 And your kids are like, yeah. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:57.759 They go to sleep with a fork in their hand because they believe there's more to come. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:10:59.919 You say, What do you mean, believe me? 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:02.240 That's what God's been about all through the Bible. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:04.000 You say, Well, that's easy, isn't it? 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:04.799 Are you kidding me? 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:07.759 Let me summarize the entire Old Testament in four minutes. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:08.960 You got that in you today? 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:10.960 You can go to lunch and say, How is church? 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.440 Our pastor summarized the entire Old Testament. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:15.679 Yes, I break it in three little sections. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:17.759 First section, Genesis 1 to 11. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:21.919 Genesis 1 and 2, God creates everything, he speaks it into existence. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.159 There was nothing, there was just nothingness. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:31.440 The Spirit of God was hovering over nothingness, and the Spirit of God over nothingness means something's about to happen up in Hera. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:33.279 And so God makes everything. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:34.159 He makes Adam. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:36.159 He says, It's not good that man should be alone. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:38.000 I'll make a helper suitable for him. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:39.279 He makes him fall asleep. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:40.320 He wakes up from a nap. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:41.759 There's a naked woman there. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.279 Adam gets up and says, Oh, Mellor, take more naps. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:46.559 Are you kidding me? 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:48.720 I love this. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:51.440 Some of you guys should go home today and take a nap. 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.159 Tell your wife, hey, remember that part that the preacher said? 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:56.639 I think that was a word from God for us. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.480 That was a rhema right there. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:05.440 But he wakes up and God says, Hey, remember, remember, tell believe, God says, Hey, you're free to eat of any tree in the garden, but of this one tree. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:08.399 You shall not eat, because when you eat that, you're gonna die. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:09.200 What happened? 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:10.320 They didn't believe God. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:20.399 And so, chapter three, they ate, they believed the lie of the serpent, so they ate, and then all of a sudden, culture begins to disintegrate in chapters four to six, and then God says, You know what? 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:22.159 I'm even sorry I made man. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:23.200 This place is so wicked. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:24.080 So, what does he do? 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.639 He hits the reset button with a man named Noah. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:34.000 Now, if you believe in human nature, then you've got to follow the logic here because if you have a righteous man, which Noah the Bible says was righteous. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:34.960 Did you know that? 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:35.519 Yeah. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:43.200 And so he starts over with a righteous man and his family, the only people that survived the flood, and he says, Hey, okay, now we got a righteous man. 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:48.639 They saw, hey, don't jerk with God, because God will just pull the world over and whip everybody right here. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.399 And so they get, they they survived the flood, they get off, and guess what? 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:58.799 The world gets re uh earth gets repopulated in the ensuing chapters, and it gets so bad they get to chapter 10. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:00.159 That happens in chapter 11. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:01.039 They said, You know what? 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:02.480 We got a lot of people. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:04.960 We gotta be, uh make a name for ourselves. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:07.840 So we're gonna build this big tower into the heavens called the Tower of Babel. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:10.159 And God looked down and said, This is not good. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:14.080 Because if these people start off on this, they're gonna compete with me. 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:22.879 They're not gonna trust me, they're not gonna believe me, they're gonna trust in themselves and their technology and their work ethic, and this is not gonna be good for them. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:28.879 And so God comes down, confuses their languages, and scatters them all over the face of the earth. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:35.600 And so God sets into motion on this big canvas where he can paint an even bigger picture called redemption. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.159 And darkness begins to creep in on them. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.919 And then and then you get this man named Abraham in chapter 12. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:46.320 God has a failed start, and then a restart with Noah, and then, hey, I'm gonna start with Abraham. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.559 And so he says to Abraham, hey, I'll bless you. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.240 He makes a promise to Abraham. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.559 He makes his promise and says, I'll bless you, and through you all the nations of the world will be blessed. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:56.799 One of his descendants is a man named Jacob. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:02.000 And Jacob, under Jacob, they he who later becomes Israel, they experience prosperity. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:06.799 They end up to this few historical events that Hollywood's making a movie about. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:08.960 So if you don't understand the Exodus, just wait for the movie. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:11.120 I'm sure it'll be just like the Bible. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.679 Are you kidding me? 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:18.639 Please don't go see the movie and then call me and go, hey, why didn't the Bible like that? 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:21.200 Because the Bible's true and that's a lie. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:23.039 End of story. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:24.320 Are you kidding me? 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:27.919 And so the people flourish, but they fall through these historical events. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.399 They end up slaves in Egypt by their slaves. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:39.039 They populate, they just become more and more and more, and then God gives them the law and the land and says, Hey, I want you to display my character to the nations. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:40.000 But they couldn't do it. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:41.039 They said, you know what? 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:46.399 We need some politicians to rule over us, so they enter a period of what's called the period of the judges. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:51.039 And so, by the way, you're not created to be ruled over by politicians. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:53.120 And so that that didn't go well. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:56.399 So darkness comes and they're like, Okay, well, this isn't working out. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:56.799 You know what? 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:58.960 They looked around and they said, We need a king. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:00.639 And God says, You got me. 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:02.559 And they said, No, we need a king. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:05.200 All these other people got kings, we need a king. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:09.279 And pretty soon it's so dark, they're like, Whoa, what in the world? 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:11.759 And so they get a king, they get a guy named Saul. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:12.960 That did not go well. 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.000 They get a guy named David, that goes really well. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:21.600 Matter of fact, the people of God being ruled by the man of God and the word of God is the way God set it up. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:23.759 But even that man was flawed. 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:32.080 So his son Solomon comes on the scene and he builds this big, big church, this big temple, and it's it's it's it's incredible. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:37.279 And yet his heart got turned away because of his immorality. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:40.480 And then he has a son that comes on the throne later called Rehoboam. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:51.279 Rehoboam uh tolerated idolatry on a scale unlike his father before him, because what one generation allows in moderation, the next one will excuse in excess. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:59.360 And so under Rehoboam, the kingdom, the people of God gets divided into the north and south, and north, God raises up the Assyrians and it sack the north. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:03.279 And then by a century later, the south gets sent into captivity in Babylon. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:08.000 And now it's pitch black and they can't see their hand in front of their face, and they're just kind of like, whoa. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:15.039 But if you'll notice in this room right now, when it gets dark, it's kind of like uh oh. 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:18.960 But the longer you sit in the dark, your eyes adjust, don't they? 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:24.080 And you begin to be like, okay, I can see enough to feel comfortable. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:34.159 And what they don't see is that this is not the way God created them to live, and so they come back from exile because God keeps his promise. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:38.720 The psalmist says it in the 126th Psalm verse 1 when the Lord brought back the captive Sazion. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:41.840 We were like men who dreamed, our mouths were filled with laughter. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:42.320 Why? 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:49.279 Because we we we we we had given up hope that God would keep his promise, and God's going, Hello, believe me. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:58.159 And so they come back and they rebuild the temple and they rebuild the wall around Jerusalem with men like Nehemiah and Zerubbabel. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.480 There's a name, no one's naming their children, unfortunately. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:08.160 And God, by the way, because God always has a plan. 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:10.640 Because way back in the garden, God had a plan. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:30.480 Because in Exodus 34, when God self-discloses to Moses when he's getting the Ten Commandments, and God announces Himself, the Lord, the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving sin and iniquity and thousands upon thousands, but who will by no means clear the guilty. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:36.559 And God just kind of subtly and yet provocatively invites us to think about how you're gonna solve that problem. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:42.319 You you're you're you're you're you you forgive the sin and iniquity of thousands, but yet you don't clear the guilty. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:45.839 How are you gonna forgive and not let the guilty get off? 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.920 Somebody's gonna have to die in the guilty's place is what God is saying. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:53.680 And there's a mediator woven all through the Old Testament. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:06.799 Way back in Isaiah chapter 9, 700 years before Jesus comes, Isaiah chapter 9, verse 2, it says, The people that dwelt in deep darkness, upon them a light has shone. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:12.720 And one of the things that you'll realize this morning is you don't need a whole lot of light. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:15.440 To punch a hole in the darkness. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:20.640 Matter of fact, it can be just a little baby born of a virgin. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:28.880 Because before Isaiah says all that, the wonderful counselor, he says this the people dwelling in deep darkness have seen a great light. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:34.559 The land of deep darkness, the land of deep darkness, upon them a light has shone. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:40.480 And so God says, all along, even though I'm gonna discipline you, I'm merciful. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:42.640 Just would you believe me? 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:44.880 Would you just be willing to believe me? 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:55.839 So the first foundational part that we uh that we kind of bank our hope of Advent on is number one, it's the promise of God, and God made a promise to Abraham. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:06.000 And so the all of a sudden light begins to break through, and people begin to see and understand because the Old Testament ends, there's 400 years of darkness for the New Testament, it comes on the scene. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:12.559 And the second source of our foundation of our hope during Advent is number one, the promise of God, number two, the nature of God. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:13.599 The nature of God. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:30.559 You don't have to look far in the Bible or look far in the book of Hebrews, because he says right there in verse 13, he says, For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, Surely I will bless you and multiply you. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.279 Now think for just a minute, okay? 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:34.400 Uh are you with me? 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.079 Did you nod off in the dark? 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:39.680 If you're visiting today, we don't always turn the lights out. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.799 We just did that for you today as a special feature. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:45.119 No, no, no, no, no, here's the thing you say. 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:46.559 What do you mean, the nature of God? 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:51.119 That sounds so nerdy that you're kind of like, Are you are you kidding me? 00:19:51.279 --> 00:20:00.960 No, here's what he the Bible says, hey, since God, because he he wanted to ground this in something certain, he said, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:01.599 What do you mean? 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:03.279 I remember as a kid playing football. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:06.240 I drove by there when I went back home for Thanksgiving on Thursday. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:08.559 Drove right by David Hawkins' house. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:10.400 His family still lives there, big empty lot. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:16.640 His brother Paul, who was like that tall, I got married and kids, and and we used to play football in that corner lot. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:21.680 And always the argument was about, you know, you went out of bounds, where's the touch sign, where's the inline, this, that, and the other. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:22.960 And there would be a big thing. 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:27.039 The way we settled it, David Hawkins would look at you and he goes, You swear on your mother's heart? 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:29.759 What? 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:32.400 You talking about my mama now, we gotta fight. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:36.559 And now what he was saying was, Do you swear by something greater than yourself? 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.640 I have an Italian friend who used to say, You swear on your mother's eyes. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:44.400 Leave my mom's eyes out of this. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:45.920 That's creepy, okay? 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:49.920 But they were saying, by the way, no one ever said, You swear on your dad's heart. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:55.119 Because I'm like, I'll throw him under the bus in a heartbeat. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.480 But when they said you swear on your mother's heart, it's like, oh, now we're done and got serious up in here. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:02.480 The Bible says that's what God does. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:11.039 That's what he means when he says, Hey, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, Surely I will bless you. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:15.039 Now, before you get to bless you, he he you want to understand the nature of God? 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:16.160 It's two words. 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:17.839 Surely I. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:20.720 Surely I. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:22.640 I'm not I'm not into tattoos. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:25.279 I don't I'm not like against tattoos if you got a tattoo. 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:26.240 I don't care. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.240 I I could care less. 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:31.359 Uh but but but you ought to get a pen around the back of your hand. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:35.759 Surely I, dot, dot, dot, and put it in quotation marks and go to work tomorrow. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:37.039 People go, what is that? 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:40.640 Well, I'm I'm 54, and so I'm I'm too old to get a tattoo. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:44.640 But I just want to remind myself of the consistent nature of God. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:46.160 Surely I. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:52.480 Because see, if I is a reference to God, what what word do you put before I, which is God? 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:57.039 What word do you put before God that's as consistent as God is? 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.759 You can't say, well, maybe I. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:01.759 That's not God. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:05.680 Or if you will, then I. 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:08.240 No, he swore by himself. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:13.359 When he made a covenant with Abraham, he told Abraham, Hey, you just take a nap. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.559 I got this. 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:19.440 I don't want this depending on anybody as uncertain or as unstable as you. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:25.759 So that may offend you, but if it does, think about this and ask yourself what you're capable of. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:30.960 Because one thing about going back to my hometown, it reminded me of what I was capable of. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:38.640 I would drive by places and I would remember things that we did there, and I was going, eh, yeah, this is kind of depressing. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:44.319 But the Bible, God says I can find no one greater than myself to swear by. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:50.000 So I swore by myself, saying, Surely I will bless you. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:50.720 Surely. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:56.079 Now, if you ever get bored and you want to do something interesting, just do a word search or a word study on surely. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:57.200 Just the word surely. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:58.640 S-U-R-E-L-Y. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:05.279 Not like when I was a little kid and they would read the 23rd Psalm, which by the way has the line there, surely goodness and mercy. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.839 I thought there was a woman in the Bible named Shirley Goodness. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:16.400 I remember just thinking, I just didn't because when I went to, I probably went to church 15 times between the time I was born and the time I was 18. 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:20.480 And the 15 times I went, they never talked about the goodness of God. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:27.839 It was always about this God who was out to get you, and you were a bunch of screw-ups, and man, when he finds you, he's gonna lay the wood to you. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.359 I remember walking out thinking, well, that'll last me for a while. 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:36.079 I thought I was screwed up, and I went to church today, and the preacher confirmed it. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:48.720 Yet the God of the Bible says, Surely I Isaiah 53, 6, he says, Surely he has borne our transgressions and our sins. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:55.200 Psalm 23, 6, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:59.119 Revelation chapter 22, he says, Surely I am coming again soon. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:06.240 See, when that that certain word called surely is used, something just as certain is used right beside it. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:14.240 And so when God says in in Hebrews chapter, surely, the certain reality that follows that is God. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.200 Surely I will bless you. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:22.640 See, your your your your hope is not rooted in something that may or may not come through. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:24.559 So you got to be ready to finish the deal. 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:25.359 No, no, no. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:27.759 It's as certain as the nature of God. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:31.119 The third part of this foundation is the consistency of God. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.599 I want to start reading in verse 17. 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:34.960 And the Bible says this. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:56.000 He says, so when God desired to show or show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:01.519 Now, when I say the consistency of God, I don't want that to be like that's bigger than me. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:02.960 What do you mean? 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:09.680 It's just little phrases in those two or three verses like more convincingly. 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:12.319 What do you mean? 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:16.880 He says, so when God desired to show more convincingly. 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:23.599 In other words, I want to go beyond what I showed Abraham and I want to show you more convincingly. 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:32.319 Ask yourself this morning, what else do you need to see, hear, taste, touch, experience before you're convinced? 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:37.839 Because God says, I'm I'm I'm committed to to showing you more convincingly. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.640 And then he says, to the heirs of his promise. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:42.720 You should ask yourself, who is that? 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:43.680 Who is that? 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:45.920 Is that like Abraham and his kids? 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:46.640 Yes. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:52.400 And by the way, you, if you're here in this room today and you're a Christian, that's you. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:54.240 You say, How do you know? 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:57.759 Because I worked at day camp when I was 19. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:03.440 And those little curtain climbing little rug rats that would always come over. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:03.839 Mr. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:05.759 Yeah, I want to be in your group. 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:07.599 I got 36 of you. 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:08.720 I can't take any more. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:13.200 Other counselors had five or six, and I was like, Hello, hello, amen. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:17.519 All the kids want to be in your group because you're lame, that's why. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:26.319 I might have gotten disciplined, I don't know, for telling all the kids, take your shirts off, let's go in the cafeteria shirtless, because we're Greek gods. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:31.920 And I might have taken a sharpie and wrote on their chest, Neil's Greek gods. 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:37.119 And I might have turned them around and wrote on their back, try not to stare. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:41.200 And marched them in the cafeteria shirtless. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:47.839 Okay, so they were five or six years old. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:48.720 So what? 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:51.279 You could do that when you're five or six. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:52.559 I kept my shirt on. 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:54.880 It's inappropriate when you're fifty. 00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:58.960 But when you're five or six, and I just walked in and went. 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:03.599 26 of them that day. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:06.400 And somebody said, We have a dress code. 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:08.079 This is a health code violation. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:12.000 Health code is submissive to God's truth. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:14.240 Don't be touching my boys here. 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:17.039 Because we got to get our grub on up in here. 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:18.240 And they were like, Mr. 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:19.920 Neal, do we have to put our shirts on? 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:20.720 Never. 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:22.079