Advent: Between the Now and the Not-Yet

Advent is a reminder that we live in an in-between time

·        Many of the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures have been fulfilled

·        but many promises have YET to be fulfilled:

o   the conquering of evil

o   freedom for all who are held captive by sin, addiction, or evil people and systems

o   the whole world coming together under one King

These things will come to pass when Jesus returns.

Advent reminds us of BOTH sets of promises.

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Isaiah 2:1–5 (ESV) The Mountain of the Lord

¹ The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

  ²     It shall come to pass in the latter days

that the mountain of the house of the Lord

        shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be lifted up above the hills;

        and all the nations shall flow to it,

  ³          and many peoples shall come, and say:

        “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

        that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

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For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

  ⁴     He shall judge between the nations,

and shall decide disputes for many peoples;

        and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

        nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore.

  ⁵     O house of Jacob,

come, let us walk

in the light of the Lord.

Night and darkness are images used throughout the whole of Scripture as synonyms for disobeying God, while light is an image for knowing God and walking in his ways.

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John 3:19b (NIV) Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Romans 13:8–14 (ESV) Fulfilling the Law Through Love

¹¹ Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

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¹² The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Armor can be either offensive or defensive. A shields AND a sword. The righteousness God calls us to both defends us and wages war on evil.

Romans 12:21 (ESV) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

2 Corinthians 6:7 (NLT2) We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.

Pray for: (MULTILINE REVEAL BIG)

¹³ Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Psalm 122:5–6 (NLT)

⁵ Here stand the thrones where judgment is given,

the thrones of the dynasty of David.

⁶ Pray for peace in Jerusalem.

May all who love this city prosper.

Matthew 24:29–44 (ESV) The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

³⁰ Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

³¹ And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

This is the same Trumpet spoken of in:

·        1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NLT2) For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.

·        And Revelation 11:15 (ESV) Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

³² “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.³³ So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

The Jewish understanding has always been that people ought to be able to recognize the circumstances around them if they are tuned into the Lord.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

³⁶ “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.³⁷ For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,³⁹ and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.

⁴² Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Church – Live in the Light

·        Repent when needed.

·        Live righteously.

·        Be ready for him to come anytime.

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