Advent: The Expectation of Advent | Guest Speaker: Brad O'Kelley

My name's Brad O'Kelly.

I'm one of the elders here at Christ the Redeemer, and it's a holiday weekend, so we're gonna bring up the JV to preach, and that's okay.

Nothing wrong with that.

We love it, and uh I'll take any any chance I get.

So um, you know, uh then we read the passage of scripture that he read today.

It's the first Sunday in Advent.

Maybe you're like me.

I was raised Southern Baptist, I had no idea what Advent was.

We didn't celebrate.

We had an old lady named Miss Margaret lit some candles one time.

We didn't know what she was doing.

We were like, we thought like we thought either cataracts were acting up or you know, like she was mad because we didn't like the chandeliers weren't bright enough in the sanctuary or something.

We didn't know what was going on, and uh so but then we realized, hey, she actually knows what she's doing.

You know, this is this is great, but we didn't we didn't do the whole Advent thing, we didn't know anything about it.

So when Russ asked me to preach that and he's like, Oh, it's the first Sunday in Advent, and I'm like, yeah.

All right, you know, great.

You should kind of pretend like you know what he's talking about, right?

Right, right.

And then you Google, what is Advent?

Um, so that's what I did.

So uh it's great because in the first Sunday in Advent, we're we're here, we're gonna really, you know, kind of dig into this thing.

We got a passage that's all about the second coming, it's gonna scare you to death, and then it's gonna bring you back.

And it, I mean, it's just fun times for everybody, okay, this morning.

Fun times for everybody.

Just hang in there with me because by my watch, I think I've got about 17 minutes to walk you through this today and make sure that uh we get it all right.

So, congratulations, you showed up today for the JV.

Uh, you're gonna get a terrible sermon.

You're gonna leave here and go, why should I ever come back?

Um, and then next week you'll come back and everything will be right with the world, and we'll go right back to what we're doing, okay?

So just promise me you'll show back up.

Today, we're gonna drink out of the fire hose, all right?

Because here's what's gonna happen is uh we're gonna get started in this thing.

There's some stuff in here that we got to walk all the way through the Bible to figure out.

Richard Williams is running the slides back there in the back, and he's a volunteer, and guess what?

He's gonna earn every penny of the volunteer paycheck today.

Can promise you that.

All right, so really don't worry about praying for me.

Pray for Richard today, okay?

Because I really kind of laid it on him uh big time.

Let's get into this thing.

You ready?

Let me pray for us.

Father, thanks for today.

Thanks for your word.

Thanks for Advent.

Thanks for all these people that are here today, Lord.

Uh forgive the message that's about to be preached to them, Lord, and let your word just pierce hearts in this room today.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

So here's the deal.

Had to Google Advent, Google that.

We end up in Luke chapter 21 because we use what's called the gospel passage.

Luke 21 · chapter mention

I didn't know this.

There's a lectionary.

I wouldn't know a lectionary if I had it in my hands.

I don't I don't know what it is.

All I know is Russ sent the link to me, and I click on the link, and it tells you, here's all these things about Advent that you're supposed to know.

So I look at it, and there's an Old Testament passage, there's a Psalms passage, there's a New Testament passage, and there's a gospel passage.

So I just kind of look through there and I'm like, you know, one of them was like Jeremiah's something.

I'm like, no, I'm not touching that.

And then the other one was some psalm that I didn't really understand.

It's like all this poetry and all this stuff, and I'm going, yeah, I don't want to do that either.

Then I look at the New Testament passage, I'm like, okay, I can probably get on board with that.

And then we get to the gospel stuff, and I'm like, this is way too hard.

I'll take that one.

I don't know why.

It was really dumb.

So here's what I figured out about Advent, though, okay?

I know there's Latin.

Figure that out.

It's Latin for Adventists, and here's what it means: arrival.

Advent is all about the arrival of Christ.

So as we lead up to the Christmas season, we are literally, in two ways, we are going to celebrate or rejoice in the arrival of Christ.

In one way, like I said, we're drinking out of the fire hose today, get ready.

In one way, it's commemorative.

We're commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Born of a virgin, wrapped in swollen clothes, lying in a manger.

You know that wonderful passage that we all love to hear Charlie Brown talk about on the Christmas special.

It's great.

We commemorate that birth of Christ.

However, that's only a portion of Advent.

We also have to go into the second phase of Advent, which is expectation.

And we go into a season of expectation.

Why would Advent have a season of expectation?

Well, in case you didn't know, there's wonderful passages like Luke 21 that make us realize that we're not only celebrating the birth of the Savior, we also have to celebrate the fact that he's coming again.

There's a season of commemoration, commemorating the baby born of a virgin lying in a manger, and then there's a season of expectation.

Expecting that Christ will come again and will redeem his church for all eternity.

That's what Advent's for.

That's why we celebrate this.

All these years I've missed out on it, had no clue.

Thought it was about candles and some other stuff.

I didn't know what was going on, and now I realize there's actually an expectation that goes along with Advent.

So look at Luke chapter 21.

Luke 21 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 21, we're going to start in verse 25.

Luke 21 · chapter mention

It says, There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars and on the earth, dismay among nations and perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves.

How in the world did we even get here?

How do we get to the point where Jesus, now remember, these are the words of Jesus, how do we get to the point where Jesus is looking at his disciples and saying, Here's what's going to happen.

Well, if you go all the way back to the beginning of verse or chapter 21, you'll see that they're all standing, and Jesus sees this wonderful picture of a widow come to the temple and she gives all that she has as an offering in the temple.

And the disciples are watching this, they're watching rich people pour in a ton of money, and they're watching this widow show up and she only gives a few pennies, and it's everything that she has.

And Jesus begins to teach his disciples about this.

And then they pass by the temple.

And as they're passing by the temple, the disciples are looking out on the temple and they're going, how beautiful, how wonderful.

They're all commenting on the stones that the temple's built out of.

They're commenting on the ornate fixtures that are in the temple.

They're doing all these things.

And Jesus is standing there with them and he looks at the temple and he goes, There won't be a stone of this place left when I'm done with it.

And all of his disciples go, Wait, what?

What are you talking about?

And they kind of stroll on past the temple after Jesus says this, and they get a few more verses down, and in chapter 21 and verse 7, it's not on the screen today, but in verse 7, the disciples finally have had enough of the anguish that comes along with Jesus' statement, and they look at him and they go, So, about that whole temple thing, um exactly are you gonna do that?

And if you could go ahead and just kind of give us the time and the day and let us know what's gonna happen, that'd be great.

And Jesus begins to use chapter 21 to teach his disciples all about his return to gather his church.

And when we get to verse 25, it says, There'll be signs in sun and moon and stars and on earth, dismay among the nations and perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves.

If you really want to try to understand what these signs are gonna be, one of the great places to go is the book of Joel.

I know all of you have studied in depth the book of Joel in the Bible.

And that if we had a Bible drill right now, you're not Baptist, you don't know what that is.

If we had a Bible drill right now where y'all had to stand and open your Bibles and find the book of Joel, we would all fail.

We would all fail.

But the book of Joel literally goes through the second coming of Christ, and there's some great things in the book of Joel.

And in Joel chapter 2, verse 30 and 31, it gives us an idea of what this day's gonna look like.

Joel 2:30

The signs that we're supposed to see in the sun and moon and stars.

Look at Joel chapter 2, verse 30 and 31.

Joel 2:30

It says, I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

The sun will be turned into darkness, the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

He goes on in chapter 3, verse 14 and 16, and he says, Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision, the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.

The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem.

When the disciples look at Jesus in verse 7 and say, What are these things gonna look like?

And Jesus says, Well, there's gonna be signs in the sun and moon and stars that triggers in them the very things that they've been taught for their entire lives, and the fact that the coming Messiah is going to bring with him the complete opposite of what we think should be happening in the very nature that he created.

When we look at verse 25 and it says, There's signs in sun, moon, stars, earth, and among the nations, perplexity, the roaring of the sea, and the waves.

Let me ask you a question.

How much effort did we put in to creating any of those things?

Sun, moon, stars, seas, waves, nations, all of these things cannot be changed by earthly man.

It takes an act of an Almighty God to show what'll happen on that day.

So, what does that mean for you and I?

Imagine what the kingdoms that we've built will look like when that happens.

If the sun, moon, and stars go dark.

Look at verse 26.

It says, Men fainting from fear and the expectations of things which are coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Men fainting, people fainting with fear.

Has anybody ever fainted before?

I thought I was going to one time.

I didn't, but I thought I was going to.

It's a weird feeling, right?

It's strange.

You know why I thought I was gonna faint?

Because I had to run.

Laugh it up.

So we got like marathon runners in here, by the way.

I ran like a hundred yards one time.

And I was like, oh.

You know, like I don't know why.

Why do you do that to yourself?

Why?

Why put yourself through the anguish of running?

I saw all these people running in the gobble jug.

This pastor, I'm like, what are you doing?

Go and eat your weight and stuffing.

Stop exercising.

What's wrong with you?

And when I when I read this verse and when I see men fainting from the things that are happening, from not only from things that are happening within the very nature that God created, but what does the Bible say in verse 26?

From fear and the expectations of the things which are coming upon the world.

The book of Revelation has some great insight to this in Revelation chapter 6.

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

Revelation chapter 6 and verse 15 through 17.

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

And here's what it says.

It says, The kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath is come, and who is able to stand.

When Jesus Christ looks at his disciples and says, There will be men feigning from fear.

What we're talking about is literally men and women running to caves and rocks and mountains and begging for them to fall on them to extinguish the Lord's power on that day.

But there's a difference.

There's a difference from the people that faint and from a separate group of people.

Because in Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 31, the Bible says, Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

They'll mount up with wings like eagles, they'll run and not get tired, they'll walk and not think.

Do you understand the difference between these two groups of people?

One waits in expectation of the day of the Lord, the very thing that Advent teaches us to do.

The other runs to the mountain and begs for the mountain to fall on it and end the very day that's happening.

Look at verse 27.

It says, Then they'll see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

In your Bible, if you have a Bible today, in your Bible, or maybe even, I don't know if it's like this on the screens, but maybe it's italicized, maybe it's all caps, maybe there's a section in there that just looks different in verse 27.

And the reason is because it's a direct quote.

Jesus is quoting the book of Daniel.

And he's putting this out before his disciples, quoting the book of Daniel.

Where does the quote come from?

It comes from Daniel chapter 7 and verse 13 and 14.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Daniel chapter 7, verse 13 and 14 says, I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one, like a son of man coming.

Daniel 7:13

And he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nation, and men of every language might serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

This is what Jesus quotes to his very disciples in verse 27.

He looks at them and he says, They will see the Son of Man, which is just a great title, right?

Why would Jesus refer to himself as the Son of Man in this passage of Scripture?

And he does it over and over again in the New Testament.

Well, number one, it's an Old Testament term from the book of Daniel.

And he looks at the people and he says, the Son of Man.

And what it does is it draws him in and connects him with the very people that he's talking to.

It speaks to his earthly dominion.

It speaks to him being fully human and fully God at the very same time.

And what he does is he says, the Son of Man will come in the clouds just to reference back to Daniel.

Why would he need to do that to his own disciples?

To let them know that while I'm fully man and standing with you in this moment, there will be a day when I come on the clouds, just like the Old Testament said I would.

It's a picture of Jesus fulfilling every single word of scripture that has been written.

The beauty of this passage.

We could leave it there.

You guys want to leave it there?

You want to just close it out?

Let's see.

So far we've been crushed by mountains.

Um we've uh we've gone through this Old Testament thing, the skies are gonna split, we're all gonna be uh sun and moon and stars, we're all gonna go dark, it's gonna be really great.

We're gonna have a great time.

Um, all of this stuff's gonna happen.

We've got all of these terrible things, and we could leave it.

We could just leave it right there and go, there you go.

Happy Christmas, everybody.

And you'd leave here and go, I will never come back to that place ever again.

But the beauty is that Jesus is not done.

The beauty is this is that we have verse 28.

We have verse 28.

You ready?

This is great.

But when these things begin to take place, remember, this is Jesus.

Straighten up, lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near.

How in the world do we straighten up in this day, this day of absolute calamity, where the world literally speaks to the fact that a Savior is returning from glory together his church.

How do we straighten up our heads in that day?

And Paul paints a beautiful picture of this in Ephesians.

This is the best part.

You ready?

This is the best part.

I gotta find it.

Hold on.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7 through 10.

Ephesians 1:7–10

You ready?

In him we have redemption.

How?

Through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he has lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.

He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his kind intention, which he purposed in him, with a view to the administration suitable to the fullness of times.

That is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens, things on the earth in him.

Do you realize that when Jesus looks at his disciples in this moment and speaks of all this calamity that's gonna happen, when he looks at his disciples and says, it's not gonna be the best day in the world, I can promise you that.

And there's some that really are not gonna like it very much, but he says, In that day, you straighten up, you raise your head, you look up.

Why?

Because your redemption is drawing near.

How is our redemption drawing near?

Because of the very blood of Jesus Christ that is shed for us.

Paul literally says in Ephesians that not only was it shed for us, it was lavished on us.

Heaped and heaped and heaped on us.

Why?

For the forgiveness of our trespasses.

So that on this day we're not fainting away, we're not hiding in the rocks, we're not concerned that the sun and the moon and stars go dark because our heads are lifted high in expectation of a coming Savior in Jesus Christ.

Friends, you don't have to leave here today in fear of that day.

You can walk out of this room, heads held high, knowing that by placing saving faith in Jesus Christ, your redemption is drawing near.

And it is through his blood lavished on you.

Then on that day, we lift our eyes to the sky and we wait for heaven and all of earth to roar as Jesus comes together in his father.