The Arrival of Hope

It's sa.

Did you guys enjoy that song? Wasn't that amazing?

I really hope that this is not so familiar to you this past weekend. If you were decorating for Christmas or maybe right after Thanksgiving. It's weird because you can be the most neat person in the world and wrap these things up at the end of Christmas. And then somewhere between December and December, these little demons jump in those plastic bins. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

Like, you go and you're like, I know I wrapped these things up. Like, I did a good job of this. And this is what you find. And it's just so aggravating sometimes if you're trying to untangle a mess of Christmas lights. But the reason I'm holding this in my hands is because I believe it really is a picture of the condition of our world today.

It's just a tangled mess of natural disasters and famines and wars and political unrest and opinions and ideologies that contradict the word of God. And it's like, how in the world can I make any sense of this? And we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about what it means to unravel Scripture. Some people are just so overwhelmed by the things that they read in the Word of God that they are like, I don't think I will ever be able to understand that.

And one of the things I love about His Word is that the most uneducated person in the world can understand the truth of the Word of God. We're basing our series this month around Advent. And some of you might not even be familiar with what Advent means. You might not be familiar with the Advent wreath or the observance of Advent. We're going to talk about that.

But it really is going to be the foundation for our series that we've entitled Arrival. The first mention of Advent came somewhere around 300 AD at a council of Saragossa. The idea and the concepts actually predate Christianity. They go way back to the Germanic tribes of northern Europe, who, in the bitter winters, in longing for the arrival of spring, they would find evergreens that would remind them of life and of springtime that was coming. And then they would light candles with those evergreens that would just symbolize the warmth of spring that was coming.

And those were the concepts of Advent. Some of you might have grown up with an Advent wreath in your home, or maybe you had an Advent calendar. And maybe you're a little more familiar with. With the concept of Advent than others. I, in my family, with Our celebrations of Christmas, we never had an Advent calendar.

I never was taught about the Advent wreath, but I think it's so powerful for us. And even in the tradition, the Christian tradition, the wreath represents the never ending circle of the love of God. The evergreen represents the promise of eternal life that comes through Jesus. And then the candles are just a representation of a couple of things. First of all, that Jesus is the light of the world.

Somebody say amen that Jesus came in the midst of so much darkness. And then the third thing is that we are supposed to reflect the light of Jesus in the midst of the dark world which we live. The Advent wreath is special and the candles are symbolic of different things. And a lot of Advent wreaths will have three purple candles that represent royalty and then one pink candle and then a center candle, a white candle that's lit on Christmas morning that represents Jesus. The four candles are symbolic as well.

And we're going to each week talk about those. But the first candle, the candle that we're going to talk about today, is actually known as the prophet's candle and it represents hope. Hope. And we're going to light that prophet's candle. And each week we'll light these different candles that symbolize the things that we're talking about.

The second candle is known as the Bethlehem candle and the Bethlehem candle, and we'll talk about this next week. Actually represents peace. The third candle is the angels candle. It represents love. And then on Christmas Eve, for our wonderful Christmas Eve services, we'll talk about the Shepherd's candle that represents joy.

Today we're focusing on that candle that represents hope. We're going to look at two passages of scripture. If you have your Bible or device that you utilize, go to Isaiah, chapter 9, familiar passage of scripture, especially around this time of the year. And then we're going to go to second Peter, chapter one, Isaiah, chapter nine, Second Peter chapter one. I'm going to ask you to stand to honor the word of God.

If you don't have a Bible or a device, we've put the verses up on the screen so that you can follow along as well. And then of course, all of the notes are available on the Refuge app. If you've not downloaded the app, make sure you do that. You can follow along even as I'm preaching and fill in the blanks of some of the things that we'll talk about today. The prophet Isaiah, Isaiah, chapter nine, beginning in verse six, writes these words, for a child is born to us, a son is given to us.

The government will Rest on his shoulders and he will be called a wonderful counselor. Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's armies will make this happen.

Will make this happen. I love how Isaiah emphasized it's going to happen and no demon of hell, no plan of the enemy can stop the government of God. Somebody say amen. Second Peter, chapter one. Beginning in verse 19, it says, so we have the prophetic word.

The prophetic word, the prophetic candle we're talking about today that represents hope. And Peter says we have the prophetic word made. More sure, we'll talk about what that means, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will.

But men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Man, I'm excited about this Word today. I'm excited about His Word today. Do you love His Word, Church? Let's make some declarations before you're seated.

Everybody together. You ready? Go. I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God. This word is life to my body and health to my bones.

I will be a doer of the Word.

And I am confident of this, that he who has begun a good work in me in Jesus name. Amen. You can be seated.

Not all prophecies come true. There are such things as false prophecies. But I want to make sure that you understand that every prophecy from the Bible has either already come true or it will come to pass. Every single prophecy of the Word of God. But again, there are false prophecies.

And a lot of people, even today, in the midst of so much chaos and confusion, are trying to make predictions about what will happen with the economy or what will happen with global warming, or what will happen with the war in Israel or the war between Ukraine and Russia. What will happen with all of that stuff? And there have been some predictions in history that were just notably bad predictions. Let me give you a few examples. In 1903, the President of the Michigan Savings bank advised Henry Ford's lawyer, Horace Rackman, not to invest in the Ford Motor Company because of the following.

He said, the horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty. And A fad notably bad prediction. Let me give you another example. In 1946, a guy named Darrell Zanuck from 20th Century Fox said the television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.

Oh, how I wish that prediction would have come true. I think we'd all be a little better off, right? In 1943, the president of IBM, Thomas Watson, said the I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.

In 1981, the pioneer of wireless communication, Marty Cooper, said the cellular phones will absolutely not replace local wire systems. Some bad predictions. Here's another one. Last one. An official with the White Star Line, speaking of the firm's newly built flagship, the Titanic, launched in 1912, declared that the ship was unsinkable.

Some bad predictions But I want you to know that the Bible is full of prophecies about the future and about the coming Messiah. And every one of them have either come true or they will come true. Now, as we talk about the prophet's Campbell that represents hope today, I want you to understand that the word Advent comes from a Latin word, advenire, and it just simply, literally means toward the coming. The Latin definition is a thing about to happen. A good synonym to that would be the word expectation.

And a modern dictionary would define advent as a coming or arrival, which is where we get the name for our series, a coming or an arrival as of any important event or person. We read Isaiah, chapter 9, and Isaiah the prophet is predicting. He's talking about the coming or the arrival of the Messiah. And when he writes his prediction, when he writes his prophecy, Israel is in the midst of great oppression from the Assyrians. Things are really bleak and really dark, and hope has waned for them.

And times were really bad, much like America today. And Isaiah points the people of his day and for future generations and said, yes, things are bad right now, but there's one who's coming, and he's going to be known as the wonderful counselor and the mighty God and the everlasting Father and the Prince of peace. He's writing 700 years before the birth of Jesus. And we know that Isaiah's prophecy did come to pass because God came to earth in the form of a baby. Immanuel God with us.

And he was born in a cave and laid in a feeding trough, not as some meek, useless, powerless baby, but he came in the form of a baby as the great and mighty and powerful king above all kings. And Lord above all lords, and our hope today is in that one that man named Jesus. He gives us hope in our hearts that he will never leave us and he will never forsake us. We have hope today that he'll supply all of our needs according to his great riches, Heaven. We have hope that he's the healer of our souls and the healer of our bodies.

Somebody say amen. We have hope that he loves us with an everlasting and an unchanging love. We have hope today that he walks with us even if we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. We have hope today that He. He came once and he will come again.

And we have hope today that we will live with him forever and forever. Church Come on, somebody say Amen. I'm not talking about a hope that's based on some fairy tale or some fantasy like, oh, I hope one day I'm going to get married, or I hope that I get an 80 inch flat screen television for Christmas. No, I'm talking about a hope where you can anchor your future and your family, your finances, your soul. You can anchor everything to the man who is the same yesterday and today and forever.

We have confident, hope, confident expectation that if he came the first time, he's going to come again. Like the prophets prophesied the coming of Jesus the first time, and they prophesied that he will come again.

And we long for his appearing. That's the concept of Advent. Just like the Germanic tribes would long for spring to come and bring relief from the harsh winter, we today, in the midst of so much craziness, we long for his appearing. We look forward to the fact that he's coming again. We look forward to his arrival.

It's not some fairy tale. It's not something somebody just made up. He is coming again. And our confident expectation that he will come again is based on three things. Number one, it's based on authenticity.

Second Peter, chapter one, verse 19. So we have the prophetic word made more sure. As I said, there are some prophecies that never come to pass and they never get untangled. But Peter speaks of prophecies that over time become more and more clear. Like Paul the Apostle even references how we prophesy.

In part, we understand in part. But over time, the prophecies become more clear to us, more sure for us. How? Because they've already been partially fulfilled, which gives us the confidence that the rest will happen as well. Dr. George Sweeting once estimated that more than a fourth of the Bible is predictive prophecy.

Both The Old and New Testaments are full of promises about the return of Jesus Christ. Over 1800 references appear in the Old Testament. 17 Old Testament books give prominence to the theme of the Second Coming of Jesus. Of the 260 chapters in the New Testament, there are more than 300 references to his coming again, which is 1 out of every 30 verses. 23 of the 27 New Testament books refer to the great event, the coming of Jesus again.

For every prophecy on the coming of Christ the first time, listen, there are eight in Scripture. For every one of him coming the first time, there are eight that speak of him coming again, coming a second time. 353 Old Testament prophecies that are fulfilled in Jesus. Think about that. 353.

There's a professor at Pasadena College, Dr. Stoner, who's the chairman of the departments of Mathematics and astronomy, and he's passionate about biblical prophecies. And he did a study. Remember I said there are 353 in the Old Testament. He just picked out eight. Eight of the prophecies.

And he did a study based on mathematics, of what is the likelihood that those eight prophecies would all be fulfilled by one person? Not 353, but just eight of the 353, that eight of those would be fulfilled by one person. And he figured out, according to math, that the likelihood would be 1 out of 10. To the 17th power, you say, what's that mean? That's a 10 with 17 zeros.

You're looking at me like I have three heads. And when I read that, it didn't mean a thing to me either. It just was like, that's a big number. Let me give you some context. 10 to the 17th power, a 10 with 17 zeros.

Here's what it equates to. If you took quarters and you spread them, you took this number of quarters 10 to the 17th power, and you spread them over the state of Texas, it would cover the entire state of Texas two feet deep. Now, here's the likelihood of eight of the 353 prophecies being fulfilled by one person. If you took all of those quarters two feet deep that cover the whole state of Texas, and you put a mark on 1/4, and then you put it somewhere in the state of Texas, and then you mixed it all up and you blindfolded a person and you said, you walk in any direction as far as you want to walk. And then when you're done walking, reach down and pick up a quarter.

And the likelihood of them picking up that quarter, that has a mark on it is the same as the likelihood of one person fulfilling eight of the 353 prophecies in scripture.

Listen to this, Jesus, one man fulfills all 353 of the prophecies in Scripture. Every single one of them. Every one of them. So we have the prophetic word made more sure. Peter says, why?

Because Jesus has already fulfilled the word of the prophets in amazing detail. And it proves the authenticity of of the prophecies that we find in Scripture. Well, if that's not enough for you. The second way that we know that we can anchor our hope to the word of God is because of the authority of the Word. Isaiah writes, the government will be on his shoulders.

That word government in the original language means dominion or authority. It comes from a Hebrew word, Mizrah. That word Mizrah is only found twice in Scripture, in the entire Bible. Guess Where? Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 6.

Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 7. Why? Because the writers of Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reserved that word Mizrah to describe the uniqueness of what Jesus would come and establish on the earth unlike anything that had ever been established before. Isaiah was saying, the Messiah is going to come. And when he comes, the government, the misra, the authority and the dominion will rest on his shoulders.

And he's going to establish a dominion and an authority unlike anybody has ever seen in all of history or ever will see. Now, the Old Testament priest would wear a part of their uniform, if you will, and it was this vest called an ephod. And sewn into the ephod were these two stones on their shoulders. And on one stone would be inscribed six of the twelve tribes of Israel. On the other stone, the other six would be inscribed.

And the reason they weren't just made out of garments was because the priest was supposed to feel some of the weight of the responsibility that he carried for the 12 tribes of Israel. And Isaiah says, the Messiah is going to come. And the government, not just of one nation, but the government of the world. The authority and the dominion will rest on his shoulders. Think about this.

The authority over demons, resting on the shoulders of our Messiah. The authority and the dominion over depression, resting on the shoulders of our Messiah. The authority and the dominion over poverty, over depression, over addiction, over loneliness, over generational patterns. Resting on the shoulders of our Messiah who would come with that authority. And listen to this.

Luke 10:19. Jesus, the one who came with that authority, says to his disciples, and to you and I, I now give you all. Everybody say all. He said, I give you all authority. Listen, a person cannot give something that they do not possess.

And the only way that Jesus can give all authority to you is because he possesses all authority. And he says, I'm giving you authority over depression, giving you authority over sickness and over poverty and over addiction and over generational patterns and over loneliness and over pride and over lust and over anger. I'm giving you that authority. You just need to walk in it. The government will rest on his shoulders, the misra on Jesus that now rests on you.

And the only reason he could bear the names that Isaiah wrote as wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, is because of the fact that he came to the earth the first time with all authority. And he's going to return one more time. Come on. Somebody riding on a white horse, not this time as a little baby in a cave laid in a feeding trough. But he's coming in all of his power and his majesty and his splendor, riding on a white horse, declaring, I am the King of all Kings.

In fact, it will be written on his thigh and Lord of all lords over everything that represents confusion and chaos in your life. Hope for you.

Your pastor who loves you is just pleading with you today, don't live without hope.

And the only way that you can have hope is through a relationship with the one who wrote this book. And that's the third way that we know that his prophecies are real, they're true, is because of the author, the authenticity, the authority, and the author. Second Peter 1, verse 20 and 21. But know this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. In other words, Peter saying, there's no way that you on your own can make sense of this.

I don't care what your iq. With all that's going on in our world and with the complexities that we deal with, you're not going to be able to do it. Peter's saying, I don't care what your age. I don't care how much education you have. I don't care how much that you have, how many times you've been in church.

You cannot sort this out. He said, it's not left up to your own interpretation. But listen to what he says. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will but by men. But men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God that word interpretation.

Let me read it again. That no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. That comes from a Greek word. Epelousis and it's only found one time in the entire Bible. And we just read where it is, and it literally means this in the original Greek language.

That word interpretation means to loosen, to unravel or untying interpretation knots. That's why Peter is saying, none of us have the ability to make sense of this. But he says the prophecy that was given was not an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. The prophecies that we read all throughout the pages of Scripture are not the opinions of men, but these men were instruments in the hand of God. And the Holy Spirit breathing, breathed on them.

The Holy Spirit moved on them. In fact, there's a nautical term there when we read that verse, but says men moved by the Holy Spirit. That Greek word is a picture of sailboats that are being blown by the wind. Listen. The spirit of God.

The Greek word for spirit is pneuma, the wind of God, the breath of God. And it wasn't just men who sat down and said, I've got some stirrings in my heart. I've got a little poem I want to write. I got some really cool thoughts that maybe are going to help somebody. No.

They were moved by the Holy Spirit of God. And as they took that quill in their hands, the spirit of God began to direct every word that they began to write. It's not just any book. It's not just a book. It's not just the greatest selling book of all time, but it's the only book authored by God himself.

It's supernatural church, it's inspired, it's holy, it's dependable. God's word will untangle and unravel all of the confusion and the mess of humanity and the mess of our world and maybe the mess in your own life like nothing else can do. Our hope is in him. Cory and Brittany sang a moment ago, actually one of my, maybe my favorite Christmas song that there is. And they said this.

The thrill of hope.

A weary world rejoices the thrill of hope. Maybe you've lost your hope.

Maybe it's drained out of your soul like the water in a bathtub. Maybe you find yourself at a place that you've lost hope, that you'll ever be free, that you'll ever be healed, that you'll ever be prosperous, that you'll ever have joy, that your family will ever be made right, that your kids who are prodigals will ever come home. Maybe you've lost hope, that you'll ever break out from under the cloud. Of depression.

The thrill of hope in the midst of confusion and complexity and weariness is that if we'll anchor our life to Jesus, it doesn't mean you're not ever going to have problems. It just means that in the midst of them, you'll always have hope.

You'll have hope that you're more than a conqueror right here. You'll have hope that he's going to see you through, and you'll have hope that one day you're going to be caught up with him in the air. You're going to meet him in the air. He is coming back again, and I believe he's coming back soon. Soon.

And we will spend all of eternity with Him.

We're going to share a responsive reading together. And maybe some of you grew up in a church where this was commonplace and it was a part of the liturgy of that particular church or that denomination, but really all it is is I'm going to read and then you're going to respond, and then I'll read then your response. So I want you to join me in this responsive reading. Together. Christ shall come.

God's gift to the world, That the persecuted should find peace, That the dejected should find joy. And all together. O Christ of the world, your time is now. We wait, we watch, we wonder. Come.

Oh, let's read that again. Together. Nice and strong, everybody. Ready, go. O Christ of the world, your time is now.

We wait, we watch, we wonder.

Bow your heads and close your eyes. And we just say, even so, come quickly. Lord Jesus, we long for your appearing. We long for your arrival. God help us to live with expectation that you came the first time and you are coming again.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. That alone ought to put hope in our hearts. You are coming again.

Thank you, God, for the authenticity of your word.

Thank you for the authority that rested on your shoulders when you came.

Thank you for who you are that we can have a relationship with the author of the greatest book of all time.

Lord, I pray this morning for those who maybe are not in a relationship with you. I pray that before they walk out of this place, they would surrender their life to you. And I pray as well for those who have lost hope that today would be a day that hope is relit inside of their heart. Help them to know, God, that in the midst of the darkest seasons and times, in the midst of the most complexity they've ever known, they can still find hope. It's in Jesus name I pray.

Hey, thanks so much for joining us for this message. If God spoke to your heart in a special way. We would love to hear from you. You can reach out to us at Testimony.

I look forward to you joining us again, whether it's in person or online. God bless you.