Well, I invite you this morning to turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 13, the second book of the New Testament, and we are making our way through this book and we come to the end this morning. We're going to finish the All of It discourse. My plan is, is tonight to begin a series through the book of Revelation. That'll be the introduction, so it's very important, and then we'll come back the following Sunday, I'd like to move Revelation to the morning, and we'll have Mark beginning now in this section of the death, crucifixion and death, and then resurrection of Christ. We'll have that in the evening. So, this morning we are concluding Mark chapter 13, 24, verse 24 to the end of the chapter. This is the word of the Lord. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the power in the heavens will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 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. So also, when you see these things take place, you know that He is near at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But concerning the day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the son, but only the father. Be on guard. Keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey. When he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you, I say to all, stay awake. May the Lord bless the hearing of His Word. It's a good application to stay awake in the sermon today too. So, I have realized how important the all of it discourse is in helping us to process and to think through distressing times. We're learning how to think, aren't we? It's helping us to process things and to be able to process all that's happening and all that's unfolding before us. Jesus has told us beforehand, remember that, that statement he made last time. And one of the purposes is that he doesn't, that emphasis is strong there in that particular passage. Did you notice it? I don't want you sleeping. I want you to stay awake. Characteristic of sleeping is, and it's used in the scripture, is a drunken partied life. No, no, not a Christian. I want you awake. I want you awake. I want you watching. I want you anticipating, I want you expecting. And the events that unfold before us here, times of great tribulation, distressing things that happen in the world, should have that effect upon us. It should have that sobering effect. It should have that awakening effect. You should be discerning these things. You should be thinking about these things. We should be looking for ultimately the coming of the Savior on the clouds of heaven, the coming of our Savior whom we've professed and believed all our lives, if you're a Christian here today. The events that unfold should have a certain kind of effect upon us when we see nations in upheaval, when we see destruction, when we see phenomenons that we can't explain, when things are complex, when things are happening that we try to pinpoint and understand, well, why is this happening this way? Well, it must be because the Lord's doing this, or it must be because the Lord's doing that. And we have all these discussions, and we can't figure it out in light of the complexities of what's happening in the world around us. When we see Hitler's rise, it should have the effect of waking us up. That's essentially what is before us in Mark chapter 13 this morning. I want to emphasize that this morning in these three ways that you'll notice these emphases here. There's three sections that are here in front of us, and I've just sort of worked to break those down in this way, that we should believe He is coming again. That seems very straightforward, but something that's a very important point that He's making. We should believe He's coming again. We should observe the times. We should look at the times. We should observe the times, and we should live as ready servants. It's a very straightforward outline this morning. You should believe He's coming, you should observe the times, and you should be ready. It's helpful to remember in this particular point, at this particular point in the Olivet Discourse, all that has been said to us, and what was the context that this came to us. Jesus, of course, has given them devastating news that the temple is going to be knocked over. It's going to be pummeled in destruction. Jerusalem is going to face a terrible judgment, a judgment and desolation of the temple, abomination at the hand, by the hand of their enemies. This is all very distressing. This is all very, how do you process that? What do you do with that? It's hard for them. They're distressed. You know the tendency is, I'm going to hold on to that. I'm going to fight for this. The temple was coming down. That's what he said. What would that mean for them? How would they go forward in that? And essentially he said, this is not going to halt your purpose in the earth. You are not going to stop what the plan is, my plan, and that's to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Remember that beautiful mission that is outlined in the midst of all this? That's not stopping. That's going to happen. So we see then that whatever happened in AD 70, Jesus is not just speaking of AD 70, is He? Speaking of our whole time. But you know what happens like this, at times like this. And Jesus was giving them instruction on how to deal with that particular catastrophic event in their lifetime. He said, you're going to see things. You're going to see things happen. You're going to see an antichrist figure rise up. You're going to see an abomination of desolation in the temple. We looked at those details last time, leading, he says, to a swift destruction, a swift judgment. And I'm telling you what to do when you see these things happen. I'm telling you, get out. Don't stay around and hold on to that. You can't stop what's going to happen. You know how many freedom fighters rose up at times like this? How many with flag in hand rose up at times like this? You're not stopping this. It's a judgment that's coming. Don't hold on to it. Be careful in the midst of all this of false deliverers and false messiahs and deceivers who promise you deliverance and promise you all these things, ways that you can be delivered. They're not messiahs. I'm the messiah. That was the message we looked at. Don't go back for your things. You should be willing to drop it all. You should be as Israel when they left Egypt. They were up with their suitcases packed. Well, they didn't really take much, but beyond what the Lord gave them. My analogy didn't work, I'm sorry. So my wife tells me, stay with the notes. Be ready, okay? You got it. Be ready. Don't go back for your things. I've got better things for you. Remember Lot's wife. She held on to it. And I want you to know, says Jesus, I'm concerned about those women who've just had babies. The care of the shepherd, right? I'm worried about those nursing children. Implicit in that is you help them. You help the weak in these times. You think about them. I'm thinking about them. That's what's on my mind. Pray for a safe flight. Pray that your weather's good. What a shepherd. What a shepherd helping his sheep through distressing times. That's what you should take from it. The Christians in Jerusalem we looked at last time listened to this, and they were saved from the destruction, as Eusebius records. But at this point, he's really answered their first question, hasn't he? They've asked two questions. They showed him the stones of the temple. They said, tell us when these things will be, and what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled. These things, He clearly has helped them understand what is going to transpire and what is going to unfold in the destruction of the temple. He's explained that. And it all happened. But there would be the sign, notice that emphasis there, when all these things would be fulfilled, there would be a sign. And they want to know that. Obviously, they're probably linking those things together. But from Matthew, we know Jesus doesn't answer it that way. In Matthew, the question was, what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Okay. Well, last time Jesus was helping us to work through that in these particular sections, and now we're really developing that latter question, and that's how Jesus is working back and forth between these questions. Remember last time the little description that I gave that would help us to say that Jesus is as a traveler who's looking at a distant mountain range. From where He stands, He describes the future exactly as He sees it, as one pastor said. The closer He gets to the first peak that's in front of Him, the greater the distance is seen between peak number one and peak number two. There's the end right in view. So He's describing this. All the events of history, all of which you anticipate, are patterns of what's going to happen when we reach the final peak. We could learn from all these things that the same things are going to happen. They foreshadow, they help us to understand their types of what is to come. And so it helps us to look at these events together. That's why it's somewhat complex in understanding the all of it discourse. So what we have now before us is Jesus answering the second question, what will be the sign when all of this will be fulfilled? And Jesus provides an answer to that that every generation can hold on to, every generation can grab, every generation can say, okay, I see exactly, I can understand exactly what I am to be looking for. And he begins that in verse 24. But in those days, after that tribulation, notice there what he says, the sun will be darkened the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken and then they will see the son of man coming matthew interjects the sign right there then they will see the son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory and then he will send out his angels and gather his elect from the four winds from the ends of of the earth to the ends of heaven. That did not happen in AD 70. He is clearly looking at the fulfillment of everything. We're at the last peak. And what Jesus is saying to us is that immediately after the tribulation of those days, meaning the entire period that John would even characterize, we'll look at it in Revelation, as the time of tribulation under the sun. Immediately after that, the sun is going to go dark, the moon, no light, stars are going to fall. Anyone who hears this language knows that Jesus has not just made this up. It's all borrowed out of the Old Testament. It's Old Testament what we call apocalyptic language. Jesus says not only will all this happen, we'll come back to some of those things that are used to describe this cataclysmic day of the Lord. That's how it's called in the Scriptures, the day of the Lord. Jesus says not only will all this happen, but the very power of the heavens will be shaken. Shaken means everything is going to be unsettled, disturbed. There will be a sudden arrival. Business will go on as usual, right to the end. There will, at some moment, unknown to any of us, it will all stop. He will completely disturb the realm above us, completely disturb it. Everything will be unsettled, everything will be confused, and nobody on earth is going to miss this. And at this point, we've entered into the last day. We've come to the point, you remember, when creation happened, those original lamps were given for times and seasons and days and years. That all has stopped. They're taken out. And once these are removed, we've now entered into this last day of final judgment. The scriptures describe it all over the place. Isaiah 12, behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate. he will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going forth. The moon will not cause its light to shine. The whole book of Zephaniah is about this. The great day of the Lord is near. It's near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter. Then the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm. You can read it in Revelation 6 too. Now, there have always been these foreshadowings of just what it's going to be like as we study history. Probably the greatest way to understand the day of the Lord is simply to study what follows the Olivet Discourse. What follows the Olivet Discourse? All this stuff. In other words, in the very death of Jesus, these things all happen. Think about it. If you want to understand the second coming, look at what happened at the cross. Just a few chapters later, we have vivid picture in Matthew and Mark and Luke of what the end will look like for us. Think of this language. Now, from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, there was darkness all over the land. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, rocks were split, graves were opened, and the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, And coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Well, you have it all captured right there. A whole picture of the end. You have upheaval in the heavens. You have the earth shaking. You have darkness. You have a judgment that happened on the sun. This is all your judgment day, by the way. And then you have resurrection. They're getting up. Out of the grave. so it's already been taught to you when you can put this together you realize well i already know this i already know exactly what is going to happen i've seen it i've studied it my whole life not that hard is it it's not like all the books in the christian bookstores that make it complex you don't need to go get a chart and he says all of this is simultaneous with the sign you compare this with matthew then the sign of the son of man will come in the heaven. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with great power and glory, and He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. And they're going to gather. They're going to go from one end of heaven. They're going to gather all of these people you've been praying for, all your brothers and sisters on the one side of heaven to the other side of the earth. All over, He's going to gather them together. There will also be a gathering for judgment. But there's a gathering of the elect. There's a great reunion that's going to happen. Bodies are getting up. But this day is described in Revelation 19. I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse. And him who sat on him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and makes war. That's no donkey. His eyes were like, 2 Thessalonians 1, a flame of, or Revelation 1, a flame of fire. Revelation 19, on his heads were many crowns. Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword. He himself treads the winepresses of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. Any minute, any time, your champion's coming. Your champion's coming. There he is. Don't you want it? Don't you want Him? Think of all the cries of His people. Think of when the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. He said, these cries are coming up to me. Think of all the cries that come up of the prayers of His people. That He's coming to pay back, to vindicate, to do, and to deliver. You know, maybe sometimes you've read in the Psalms and they haven't connected with you because you keep reading about all this deliverance. You know, I just went through and counted deliver just a handful. I think I counted 38 times where it talks about directly the Lord is coming to deliver us. Deliver. Help us, O God, of our salvation. For the glory of your name, deliver us. Psalm 79. O God, to deliver me, make haste to help me, O Lord. Deliver me. And that's what this is. It's a day for you of Him coming to take you back. It's a day coming to defend you. It's a day coming to rescue you. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall, not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible. And we shall be changed. He's going to separate wheat and chaff. Again, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout. the voice of the archangel with the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. When that trumpet sounds, it's done. It's over. Any moment, he could descend. And for all who believed in Jesus and have trusted in him, he says that the angels will gather you and you will be gathered to your heavenly Savior and you will rest from your labors, and the work is done. It's done. Now, what Jesus does at this point, having answered this question, He now gives them what is on His heart for them. I think you have to see all of it discord that way. They have expressed their concerns to Him, and I believe the rest of this now is His concerns for them. He's answered their questions. He's told them what they need to know. He's given them all they need about this. So I want you to notice here that in these concerns all over the Scriptures, over and over, this day, He wants us to believe is coming first. Maybe that's just important to close that first point. He is coming. He knows there are going to be people who are just going to stand back and laugh at that, shrug this off and say, come on. This is ridiculous. And He wants you to believe that that's coming. But He also wants His people to know that this day is not meant to overtake them as a thief. This day is not meant to catch you off guard. This day is not meant to be a startling event for you. That's so important in this context. He doesn't want that for you. He doesn't want that for His disciples. And I believe what He's doing now is providing them what needs to be on their hearts and their minds as they go forward from here. And you see how much this helps us, doesn't it? You could get caught up in all the wrong things along the way, couldn't you? All the reports, you know, he mentions reports here. All the news reports of conflict, disturbance, political unrest, deception. You know what they do. They cause great discouragement. They cause great confusion. They cause great fear. You could hold on to this and be fighting for all the wrong things. You could. Wrong causes. All your energy in the wrong stuff. You know Jesus told you what they need to be concerned with and what we need to be concerned with. taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. He said that already. That's your concern. You know this world is going to be burned with fire. We're not going to transform it. We're going to destroy it and make it new, Jesus says. But you could along the way forget that and turn all of your desires to this present realm, which is really functioning as an attempt to keep your life. That's what it is. It may be clothed in something else, but it's really an attempt to keep your life here. And I am seeing him here at this point give us two ways to live through distressing times. Two ways to think through all of this. This is his concern for us. Believe he's coming, but then what? Well, here's the first. Don't be ignorant about the times in which you live it's a very simple point don't be ignorant about the times in which you live there is an approach that couches itself as doing christian fighting for god but what evidence is as is as a sinful holding on to the world could come in many forms let me give you a few could come in eating and drinking and making yourself merry that's one jesus talked about this with the days of Noah, that people just saw life as eating and drinking and living it up to the fullest. And it was a ridiculous proposal that the Lord would ever come and stop this. That's what this life's all about. Sheer hedonism. You could do that. You could think your life is all about gratification. And he said people lived like that and the flood carried them away. I don't want that for you. I've got something way better for you. And we might never say that. I never say that, well, my life is not about that. We know that our life is not about eating and drinking and being merry. I hope we do. That's not just what this is about. But there's another way of thinking that shows it. In Luke's day, he chided the multitudes for a willful bliss that refused to consider what was really going on around them. Remember my point here, don't live ignorant about the times in which you live. Jesus proved it to them. How many people are living for the question of what kind of day we're going to have tomorrow? Well, you all know you live that way. We all do this. Listen to Jesus. He said to the crowds, when you see a cloud rising in the west, you say it once, ah, shower's coming. Boy, we did that well last week didn't we it happens when you see a south wind blowing you say there's going to be scorching heat we know that here Santa Ana's you hypocrites you know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky but why do you do not know how to interpret the present time What I believe he's saying is, in light of even Mark 13 here, we'll get there, there is a willful ignorance that people live that is tied to finding fulfillment in the present order of things. We find fulfillment in that. So we say, well, it's raining tomorrow, I can't go build. Can't do the project. Or it's sunny and we can plan our day. We're going to go do this and we're going to go do that. We study this to know and plan our lives around what the weather's going to be. This is what we do. The happiness of our life then depends on those plans. We study the plans and find fulfillment in how it's going to go and what we're going to do. Everything is set in order to fulfill our aspirations. Now, Jesus knows we have to make plans. Jesus knows we have to do this. That's not what He's talking about. He's talking about a certain way of life that lives this way. And when it doesn't go our way, we fall apart. I'm an athlete, I take care of myself, and I landed in bed two weeks ago, a week ago, with a back end. I don't know what happened, I preached to you, and you guys, the weight of preaching to you put me down, let me tell you. I couldn't move for three days, and I got all discouraged. Why? Because I couldn't go do what I wanted to do. I had a good reminder there, didn't I? How many people sit in chronic pain and can't move all day long? Oh, I'm going to go do this, and I'm going to go do that, and I'm going to make my plans, and I got it all figured out, don't you? You know, Jesus says that is like watching. You could be watching for those things and living for that, and what a hypocrisy if you're never watching for Him. watching circumstances to make plans and looking at the present time and studying it and figuring it out, and I'm going to go do all this. And Jesus is saying, no, observe the times instead. Oh, war. Wow, there's no peace. Natural disaster, a birth pain. He's coming. Political unrest, leadership, failure. We need a better king. You see? Look at it. Discern it. Discern what's happening. Don't live in ignorance of it. Be wise. I was reading 2 Peter this week, and he operates from this using the example of Lot. This is what happened to Lot. By turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to distinction, making them an example of what's going to happen to the ungodly. And if he rescued righteous Lot, listen to what he says happened to Lot. We're always perplexed about Lot. What happened to Lot in the midst of living in Sodom? Greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked. For as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard. Here's the encouragement, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. He rescued Lot from all he went through in choosing Sodom. And especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority, he says. Listen to this, bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme dignitaries. Now here's the application. What happened to Lot? Think of Lot in this. They entice unsteady souls for speaking loud boasts of folly. They entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in air. They promise freedom. They promise freedom. But they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. Lot got caught up in all that. He had to be pulled out. And the point that Jesus is making here is observe the times. Don't buy into false promises, false things. Don't be held by the things that are happening right now and holding on to it. Understand that things have to happen. It would be like the Jewish Christians when they see the temple going down, grabbing their ARs and standing in front of it and saying, no way, we're fighting for our country. There's a time to fight for our country. You know that. And there is lawful government and lawful wars that have to happen in terms of curbing evil and injustice. That's not what talking about. Talking about sinfully holding onto something that is not ours. The Romans came in and ravished it. That was a judgment. Notice this in verse 32. Learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branches already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it's near at the doors. What Jesus is saying is people would have understood well, what he meant is that the fig tree would bud early before summer. And Jesus is saying, you know, you know when that fig tree buds and produces leaves that summer's coming. It tells you this. It tells you that it's near and coming very soon. So too, when you see all these things, know that my coming is near at the door. So discern the times. Think about the times. This doesn't make us an active. You've got a great mission he's given you. He's given you a great commission, hasn't he, to the church. So you're packed up. You're ready to go. Didn't work for you. Peter says, but the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers. And then Jesus adds this. You're going to say all these things take place. This generation will by no means pass away. till all these things are fulfilled. What he's saying is something very simple to, I think, that generation and to ours. They did see all these things. They saw everything that told them the day was at hand. That generation saw it. The day was at hand. So do we. Can you look at it and see the day is at hand? Can you look at it and see? Can you discern the times? Let me close with one more than this morning. believe He is coming, observe and be wise to what's going on in the times, discern them, and third, watch your life. This doesn't make us just stand back and sit in the armchair, does it? We influence greatly in society. We tell others what's most important in society. But watch. He says in verse 33, take heed, watch, and pray, for you do not know when the time is. He gives his great example, the master put his servants in charge of his house and left them to do the work and left the doorkeeper to watch, but he didn't say when he's coming. So, evening, midnight, early in the morning when the rooster crows, you don't be asleep. Watch. Watch for me. What does it mean to watch? I often struggled with that for years. What exactly is he telling us to watch? To just stand up and look at the clouds all day? I have to tell the story again. I know I've told it before, but it's just, it's too, in God's providence, helpful not to tell it. There's people here who haven't heard it. And if you heard it the first time, maybe you were asleep. I don't know. but this particular event that happened helped me so much to understand what Jesus is saying when He says, watch. You know that I was asked to do the funeral of Reverend Eric Finema. And we had made a really close friendship. He was in one of our churches in Lethbridge. And I had gone up to do a wedding for somebody in his congregation and we developed a wonderful friendship. I preached for Reverend Fenema and I was able to spend time at his house with both of them. And I said before I left, I said, if you ever come to Linden, I'd love for you to preach for us. And we had just had our second child, third child, and he shows up in Linden, says, I'd love to preach. So that day he preached on the Olivet Discourse. And he's preaching the Olivet Discourse and delivered probably one of the most powerful sermons that I had ever heard on the parable of the ten virgins. It was absolutely wonderful. I can get you that sermon if you ever want to hear it. But it still rings in my ears. It still rings in my ears. Watch, therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour. Watch. Had a wonderful time of fellowship that night. Eric and his wife. And Reverend Camminga was there with Millie. And then it was a seminary student who would come down here later and go to school. And we spent hours talking in a home of somebody there in Linden. And I remember receiving an email from Eric telling me how much he appreciated the time with us in Linden, the opportunity to preach. And he concluded the email with, until we meet again. Wow, that's great. I remember receiving then Saturday morning, I'm sitting in my study, and as I'm opening the email box, I remember the whole emotion, the range of emotion that came over me. I'm emailing you to tell you the sad news, that today Reverend Fenema went to be with the Lord. He was golfing and had a massive heart attack and died right on the course immediately. I remember thinking, that is an absolutely stunning course of events in God's providence that just happened. this is a kind of watching his last message on earth wasn't even to his own congregation his last message on earth was to my church in linden where i was pastoring and his plea to those people and to me was watch therefore be ready because you don't know the day or the hour. And next Sunday we're gathered together and he's gone. Gone. I remember in that sermon, oh, I'll never forget it. Watch, watch, watch. And I kept thinking, what? What do I watch? And he stopped in that sermon and he said, your life, your life. Jesus is challenging to ask, are we living as those who, when the master comes, are ready to be with him? He wants us not to be in denial of this. He's not scaring you. He's telling you, this is for your own good. We've spent enough of our past lifetime doing the will of those in darkness, lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, abominable idolatry, says Peter. Wake up. Now it's high time to wake up out of sleep. For now, now, your salvation, your salvation is nearer than when you first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us cast these works of darkness off. He desires for you what's best. And look at how patient He is with your life. Look at all the things that you play with and do that ignore this command. And He's not saying it to make you think you're going to miss it. He's saying to His sheep, the elect will be gathered. So then, be confident, be ready, be bold, be thankful. You don't have to fear Him, He's your Savior, He loves you. He's not your enemy, so respond to Him that way. He loved you and He died for you. He's coming to get you. He's got something so much better for you. You want to hold on to this? What are we fighting for? Take seriously the call to watch and be ready. It means a lot to him. Do it because it means a lot to him. There's one thing I want to leave you with. This is not a long point, I promise. Look at what he says in verse 31. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. Whose words? He just made his words the words of Scripture. Who's speaking to you? My words are Scripture. You want to hold on to something that's not going to pass away? Start taking this seriously in your life. Start living thankfully and say, I need to be in church to hear this. I need the sacrament. I need to be in this during the week. I need this. You want to hold on to something that's lasting? Hold on to His Word. He'll keep you from stumbling. and present you faultless before his presence with gold. Thank God for his wonderful gospel to us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, if it were dependent upon our own righteousness to make it into heaven, it would be absolutely scary today. But you sent a wonderful, beautiful Savior to us to deliver us, to rescue us, And who is coming again to take us home. How we need to be reminded of this. How we need to be challenged to be a thankful people. How we need to take seriously who we are and our calling that is upon our lives. How we should live believing that the Lord Jesus is coming and observe what's going on in the world and recognize that and then watch our lives. Forgive us for complacency. And then as we go forward, then may we be about, as we were challenged this morning, to help the weak among us. To remember that in the midst of this all of it discourse is your concern for the weak. Well, there's a way forward. Thank you, Lord. Let us be about your work for when that master comes, blessed is he when he comes, will so find his sheep doing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you.