LUKE | The End of the End | Luke 21:5-38

Our text this morning comes from the Gospel of Luke. As we're making our way through we are in Luke chapter 21 I'm going to be taking a larger chunk than I often do, taking verse five and going to the end of the chapter before we read it. Let's go to the Lord in prayer, asking for his blessing on His Word. Let's pray, Father, we thank You that You give us your word, that you are not silent, that you speak, Lord, I pray that you will give us ears to hear. I pray that you will give us eyes to behold Jesus Christ. Give us hearts that are soft to receive it, Lord, let the word sink down deep into our hearts, that we might bear much fruit this day, help us to die to ourselves, that we might live to the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord be merciful to your people. And it's in Jesus's name we pray, Amen people God, hear God's word this morning for you from the Gospel of Luke chapter 21 beginning in verse five, reading to the end of the chapter. And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And they asked him, Teacher, when will these things be and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? And he said, See that you are not led astray, for many will come in My name, saying, I am He and the time is at hand. Do not go after them.

Luke 21 · chapter mention Luke 21 · chapter mention

And when you hear of wars and tumor tumults and do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once. Then he said to them, Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places, famines and pestilences, and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors. For my name's sake, this will be an opportunity to bear witness settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends and some of you, they will put to death.

You will be hated by all for my name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish by your endurance, you will gain your lives. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies and know that its desolation has come near, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart and let those who are out in the country enter it. For these are the days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days, for there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against his people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations in Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and there will be signs and sun and moon and stars and on the Earth's distress of nations and perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on The world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken, and they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now, when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near. And he told them a parable. Look at the fig tree on all the trees as soon as they come out and leave you see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near truly. I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life that the day come upon you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth, but stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and the stand before the Son of Man. And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night, he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. And early in the morning, all the people came to him in the temple to hear him. He who has ears let him hear the Word of God. Please be seated. I. Uh, if you remember where we are in Luke, if you've been here, Jesus has entered Jerusalem, and he's been correcting scribes and Pharisees. And now last week's text, he addresses his disciples, but he addresses them in such a way that everyone else can hear it, and he tells them to be aware, to be warned of the scribes. Remember why? To be aware of spiritual hypocrisy.

That they cared more about appearing godly more than actually being godly. They cared more about what other people thought of them. They cared more about the faces of men rather than the face of God. And Jesus is telling them and us to be aware, because those are also our temptations to care more about what we wear, to care more about what we eat, to care more about our titles or where we sit in church, but not about our own hearts before gone. And then that's the example of the widow and the two copper coins, her quiet faithfulness, her trusting the Lord, and her willingness to give herself not just 10% or 50% but 100% to the Lord to say, I am the Lord's, and all that I have is the Lord's. I can entrust myself fully to him. And with that in mind, our passage then begins in verse five. And just notice the connection as we go into verse five, where it says, while some were speaking of the temple and how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, that what they loved about the temple was its beauty.

It was beautiful, and it really was. It was considered a wonder of the world. It was the only building in the world that had and given blueprints by God himself. It was encrusted with gold, and so when the sun would hit it, it would just radiate like the sun. It was a beauty to behold, but I want you to notice what wasn't being praised. It wasn't that look at the temple, because that is where I go, and I fall on my face and I see the holiness of God, and that is where I go to worship Him and be made right with Him. This is where the sacrifices are that I can know my sins can be washed away, that they can be pardoned, and a sinner like me, I can be made right with God, that's not what's being praised. Look at the pictures. Look at the stained glass and the steeple.

Look at look at the paint and the carpet and the pews. Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it nice? And one of the purposes and points that Jesus is making here is it doesn't matter to God. God wasn't being praised, and so in God's eyes, it's not beautiful.

God sees the inside where man just looks on the outside. Jesus comes in and he bursts their idle balloon, and he says, Do you see the beautiful stones?

You see the the offerings of precious gems that have been included in the temple? Do you see it all? Do you see it? It's all coming down, it's all going away. It's all going to be destroyed. It doesn't matter what you see with your eyes, it's the heart that matters. Man looks at the outward appearance, as I've said, but the Lord looks at the heart. And the temple now had become ugly to God. It had become a den of robbers, not a place of worship. And so the temple that has been the heart of not only Jewish worship, but also Jewish culture and religion, and every Jew turned his face to the temple to pray, Jesus says, it's going to be destroyed. And Jesus's words, if you've learned anything in our study of Luke, Jesus's words always come true. God's words never fail. And in 70 AD, the Romans sacked Jerusalem and tear down the temple, stone by stone, some stones weighing over 100 tons, as big as a freight train car, and it is torn down every single stone, and God tells us it happened.

Why? Because of God's divine judgment on Jerusalem. If you look, just skip ahead, we'll get there. But verse 22 says this was a day of vengeance on them against God and Jesus. Has already mentioned this back in Luke chapter 19, he said you did not know the time of your visitation. You didn't embrace peace with God. You have the Messiah right in front of you, but yet you reject Him, and the wages of sin is death, and Jerusalem suffers that now the temple, it is important to remember the temple and the sacrifices. It was all part of God's plan that it would come to an end. This is not a B plan.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

This is not a mistake and and that this was all happening. The temple had to fail. The temple had to come down. Do you know why? Because the temple was just a shadow. The temple, if you remember, the temple was the place where people come to meet God. The temple was the place where the sacrifices occurred.

But you know what has just arrived on the scene, the real temple Jesus. Because Jesus is the mediator between God and man. He is the great high priest. He is the sacrifice, the once and for all sacrifice. And so the shadow of a temple that is beautiful on the outside, it was all pointing to Jesus Christ. And now the true temple, the one to whom man can enter the presence of God, is right there, and the old temple is going to go away, and it was all part of God's plan that Jesus has arrived, also, too. As we look at Luke chapter 21 I think we need to keep in mind to put on our redemptive historical bifocals, okay, what do I mean by that?

Luke 21 · chapter mention

Well, bifocals, if any of you have bifocals, they allow you to see things that are near. They also allow you to see things that are far, right? They have a dual purpose. Do so you can read things close. You can see things when you look up. See things far. Now there are a lot of things, as far as prophecy that happens that are near, but it's also directing you to something that is far. Let me give me an example, Noah and the ark. Noah has this very near prophecy. God tells him the world is going to be destroyed. Your family is going to go in the ark. I'm going to shut you in. I'm going to keep you safe. A near event, a prophecy. God says it's going to happen, and it does happen, but there's actually something even further that Noah and the ark event is looking forward to, and it's picturing judgment the final end. And so in our passage, we have something that is near, that is the destruction of the temple. It's a real prophecy that Jesus has in mind.

But there's also something far that Jesus has in mind as well, that is the end of the world.

That is the final judgment, the destruction of the temple, if you will, is a foreshadowing event of God's final return and final judgment. And so the question that we have to ask ourselves, and I think Jesus has been having us ask, is, are you ready? Are you prepared? Are you going to be caught off guard when God arrives? Are you prepared for the final judgment?

Remember, your money won't save you. Your giving to the church won't save you. Jesus will save you. And if you walk away with anything from this sermon, that is it that Jesus alone, Christ alone, will save you and nothing else. That is the way to be prepared to meet your maker is to put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as we move through we see that Jesus says the temple is going to go down, and that's a pretty big event for the people of Israel, their whole lives have been focused around the temple. But what's interesting is the disciples don't question it. They they've learned to just believe Jesus, and so what they ask him is not if it's going to happen, but when. When will these things happen? When will these things be and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? When's the end? Ever thought that when? When's it gonna when's it all gonna end?

When's this gonna happen? Now it's important to remember, again, with our bifocals on, there's an end, and then there's an end to the end. The scriptures talk about the end is the time between Christ's coming and the Christ's second coming.

So the time between Christ's first and second coming is the last days, last hour, the end we are in the end. That is the kingdom has come. In Jesus, it's continuing to come in Christ.

But so just a note, just if you're tracking, you're in the end, you're in the end right now. You're in that time between Christ, first and second coming.

But then there's an end to the end, and that is when Jesus will come to judge the world. So is Jesus talking about the end or the end of the end? And the answer is yes, right? So hopefully you're, you're following this. I'm, I've made that point clear now. Okay, and he says there in verse eight, so you see that you are not led astray, for many will come in My name saying I am He and the time is at hand. Do not go after them. This is very similar to what Jesus has said in chapter 17. They will say to you, look there, look here. Do not go out and follow them. Turn on the news. Look what's happening in the Middle East. Must be happening very soon. Look at our gas prices must, must be it's going to happen. Look at the climate. And you know what's going on, it's going to happen real soon. Or, you know, I can work out mathematically if I look at the prophecies and add numbers to them, the particular date that Jesus is going to come back, and what Jesus is saying, Don't be led astray by false Messiahs and false reports and false predictions you don't know, and stop guessing. It will be quick. It will be soon, and we are in the end. But don't be led astray. But be prepared. And when you hear of wars and turmoil, why am I having a struggle saying that word this morning Two molts, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once, he says, Don't be terrified. Don't be afraid. This is a convenient promise that is given by God to not be afraid, and that must be because we're people that are just prone to be afraid, aren't we? This is something that is commonly said by angels and Christ Himself, don't be afraid, because the future can be frightening. Do you ever think about the future and you ever feel like a sense of anxiety or worry, what, what's going to happen? What, you know, if this person becomes president? Well, it's that's all going to end then, or my finances, or what if we go to war? You know, we look in the news and what's happened in the Middle East and and the, you know, other places in other countries, and what if we get into a war, war three, and some of you here, as close as we are, the military base, you know, you've been on the front lines of a war. It's not pretty. It is terrifying. And Jesus says, Do not be alarmed. Why not Jesus? I don't know if you've ever been in war Jesus, but it's pretty alarming. How can you tell us not to be afraid? How can you tell us not to be alarmed when we see the things in the news in the world and what's happening to our country. Why not be afraid? How can Jesus say such a thing? Well, this is a reminder of who Jesus is. He is not just a man. He is God Himself. He is the Lord of history. He is the God of detailed providence. He is the God that rules every over every single molecule. And as RC Sproul said, There is not one single Maverick molecule that is outside of God's control. He's ruling it all. He controls it all. Not a hair will fall from your head apart from his will not a sparrow to the ground, and so he close, he tells you you don't have to be afraid, and in that we can take comfort. He says, there will, though be merit, many terrible things that happen before the end. The end of the end, the end, as you find themselves in the end of the end, it's not a time of peace, it's a time of war. Verse 10, Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

Excuse me, there will be great earthquakes and in various places, famines and pestilences.

Mankind isn't going to learn to love one another. Now, as the future progresses, we're not going to get closer to sitting around the worldwide campfire and hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

That's not what Jesus says here.

In fact, there's going to be a refusal of the gospel and a hatred for God. And the world is not going to become a more beautiful paradise. There will be famines, there will be earthquakes, there will be pestilence. It's not a pretty sight, not only in the world, but verse 12, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, for my name's sake.

Now, again, putting your bifocals on, there's a near aspect of this. What Jesus has just said in verses 12 to 19 is really a summary of exactly what you find in the book of Acts.

It's exactly what happens in the book of Acts. But it's also looking forward to you now that there will be persecution, and that is what you should expect.

Now, as John 15 tells us, If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before. It hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you and its own but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

The church will be persecuted.

It is being persecuted.

Sometimes we can feel in a little safe bubble here in our poor in the United States, but around the world, there are people dying for Christ's sake, and the church is being persecuted. And there may be a day in the US where if you come to worship, you will be killed, that if you dare to be baptized, you will be imprisoned. And if you're not excited to worship God, now, if you don't see the importance of coming to church and worshiping God now. How could you get excited about worshiping God when your life is on the line? How could you see the importance of gathering with the saints when your life is on the line? Did not take for granted what you have right now, that we get to gather, that we're not being persecuted. That is that, you know, we're not afraid of people coming and arresting us all, but the world system hates God. Don't take that. Remember that that is the case. This is Psalm two.

Remember, there's one unifying cause of the world. Remember, there's a lot of things that can divide the world, but there's one unifying thing that unites the whole world, and that is hatred for God. The kings come together, the worlds come together, and it's against God and against his anointed that is the one thing that has the ability to unify the world.

Hatred against Christ, and it's happening now. It's also a call for you to make sure that you're a person in the word in the Scriptures now that you're learning songs and hymns now, because when you're imprisoned, how will you feed your soul? I sometimes think, if I'm in jail, what songs can I actually remember to sing? Because I might not have my Trinity hymnal. They might not give me a Bible. So have I put these things to my heart? Have I been meditating on these things? Have I been feeding my soul? Don't take it for granted what you have right now. Verse 13, this will be your opportunity to witness trials and tribulation give us opportunities to evangelize. And this is exactly, again, what we see happening in the book of Acts. A lot of terrible things happen to the Christian church in Acts, But Peter and Stephen and Paul are all by the grace of God bearing witness to the crucifixion and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And let us do the same to not feel woe is me and what's going on in the world.

But it's an opportunity to witness now is the opportunity when you're in heaven, this is the one thing you don't get to do in heaven, is to tell other sinners to repent and believe it's too late now. Is the opportunity to evangelize and share the faith. Use those opportunities even in and especially in persecution, send it therefore you're in your minds. Verse 14, to not meditate beforehand. How you will the answer for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. And that's why I didn't prepare anything for this sermon. No, hopefully you're not feeling that way. I did put some effort and preparation in. But what does that mean? What is it telling us? Well, it's telling us that the Holy Spirit will help you to know what to say, that you don't need to be anxious when persecution comes or when your faith is challenged. If you've been a person who's been feeding your.

Self, the word of God. It's telling you that the Holy Spirit will help you. It will help you recall those verses, those psalms that you, that you have been feeding yourself on to not be anxious. God's word is so powerful they won't be able to withstand it. They won't be able to contradict God's Word. For the word of God, it's living and it's active. It's sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the hearts man cannot withstand God's word. So you can trust that as I'm seeking the Lord now, the Holy Spirit will give me the right words at the right time. But you know it's not going to be your winsomeness, it's not going to be your creativity that is going to save any man's heart anyway.

It has to be the Holy Spirit.

Has to be God himself. He will do his work, but not a hair of your head will perish by your endurance. You will gain your lives, but just verse 16 says you'll be delivered up, even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends and some of you, they will put to death.

And we know many of the disciples, they died, violent deaths, terrible deaths, they were martyred. So why does Jesus say not a hair of your head will perish? Is this just a place where Jesus has contradicted himself? He's just saying people are going to perish, but not a hair was going to, you know, fall from your head. They're not going to be able to touch it.

Well, what's what's happening here? Well, verse 16, it's talking about a physical death, where verse 18 and 19 is about spiritual life. What he's saying is, you might physically die, but you will be beyond spiritual harm. In fact, you'll even be given a glorious, raised body, that you shall not perish, even as we just heard in John 316 For God so loved the world that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 316 is not saying that that you won't die physically you will, unless Christ returns. But you won't perish eternally. You won't perish spiritually, and you'll be given a resurrected body. That's what's happening here. You might lose a lot by serving Christ. You might be deprived of your property, you might be taken away. You might lose your family, you might lose your friends, you might lose your home, you might lose your liberty, and you might even lose your life, but you will never lose your soul, as Romans eight says, For I am sure, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor nor rulers, nor things present, nor things that come, nor powers, nor height, nor death or anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from The love of God. That is in Christ, Jesus, our Lord, nothing can separate you from the love of God, not even death itself. And Jesus, he pictures the last days of Jerusalem surrounded by armies.

This is verses 20 to 24 desolation, the fall the edge of the sword. And Josephus, this is exactly how he records it. The the ancient historian has already said Jerusalem fell in 70 ad, after about a half year of siege by Titus, the Emperor's son, and it was a horrible event. Um, he records Josephus writes how the living even envied the dead, because at that time in its horrors, there's cannibalism, there's human sacrifice, there's even more crucifixion, and there are famine. And Josephus writes that over a million Jews were killed, and about 100,000 are taken captive. It's terrible, and verse 22 says, This is the day of vengeance. This is God's vengeance. And it's a terrible it's an awful sight, but again, it's a foreshadowing of the coming judgment of God. It's a rehearsal of what is yet to be.

And what will you do when God comes to visit you with His holy hatred of sin? What will you do with your sin and with your guilt? You know, Moses was so terrified at the sight of Sinai and the holiness of God, he said, I tremble with fear. And the Roman soldiers, if you remember, at the open tomb, they fall down as if they are dead by the sight of an angel. What do you think it will be like when the judge and the King of kings and the Lord of lords comes Himself to this world. Where do you think that you will be able to flee in the from the presence of God? What excuse do you plan to give God for your disobedience and for your rebellion? Deuteronomy? CHAPTER 27 says You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God.

God keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day. Have you obeyed the Lord with your heart, soul, mind and strength, says, Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father and mother. Have you disobeyed your father and mother? Cursed be you? Cursed be anyone who perverts the Justice due to his Sojourner, the fatherless, the widow. Have you always sought justice and cared for those who are weak and innocent as you ought? Curse is what waits for you. Cursed be anyone who does not conform to the words of the law by doing them. Have you kept the 10 Commandments with perfection, if not cursed, are you and judgment waits. Disobedience leads to curse, curse, curse. You know, at Pearl Harbor, there is still the sunken us, Arizona, and it is a remote as a memorial to the horrors of war and the over 1000 Navy sailors and marines that died. And like Jerusalem, you can go visit it. It should be a memorial to you and other tragedies that you see in the news that there is a day of death and destruction coming, because the wages of sin is death, war is coming, destruction is coming. So what should you do? Flee and hide, where hide in Christ, as Colossians, three says, Set your minds on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

For you have died and your life is hidden in Christ, in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory, just as No, Noah hid himself in the ark. I think I said, Moses, okay, Noah hid himself in the ark. And that was a picture of himself hiding in Christ.

Destructions coming, and he hides Himself in Christ. Just how, how Colossians says, hide in Christ, Moses sees the glory of God, and where does he go? He says he can't bear it without death, and he gets hidden in the cleft of the rock. And what does that represent? Christ? This is your only hope to hide yourself by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, people ridiculed Noah. They made fun of him, or maybe they even just ignored Noah. When Noah was telling them, judgment is going to come, Rain's going to come down, the floods are going to come up, they laugh, they ridiculed. And you might do the same now, but God will not be mocked. Jesus's words will come true, and today could be the day where it's not rain but fire.

And are you ready for the end of the end? Because one day the door will be shut, and truth will be made known to all, and for many it will be made. It will be truth that is too late.

Verse 28 now, when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

And for you who put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not only do you need to not be afraid, you can even look forward to the day. JC Ryle, the pastor, said, however terrible the signs of Christ's Second Coming may be to the impenitent that is, those who do not repent of their sins and turn to Christ. The heart of the true believer, need not fear. They all rather to be filled with joy. They ought to remind him that his complete deliverance from sin, the world and the devil, is close at hand, and that he shall soon bid an eternal farewell to sickness, sorrow, death and temptation.

The very day when the unconverted man shall lose everything, shall be the day when the believer shall enter on his eternal reward. Not only do you not need to be afraid if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, when you see the wars, when you see the things happening on the news, it should almost be in your hearts. It's getting closer. Today is one day closer tonight. Right now is one moment closer to my redemption, to my being face to face with my Lord, to being free from my sin, to being free from death and destruction. I'm a moment closer to Christ. I can lift my heads, lift my head up high. Jesus has this last parable. This is the last parable that we have in Luke and I'm just going to mention just briefly, because of time, I'm. Yeah, the meaning is this parable of the fig tree.

The tree blooms. Summer's near.

If you have plants, you see it blooming at the time that the season's approaching, you can't do anything to stop it. And that's all. What Jesus is saying here is there's a certainty of the end. You see, look around.

It's happening. You can't stop it. As John the Baptist said, even now, the ax is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit, is cut down and thrown into the fire. Okay, so the conclusion, the application, the text really gives it to us.

It's in verses 34 to 38 Watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of life and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth, but stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place in the stand before the Son of man. Don't be weighed down with drunkenness.

Don't be weighed down with things that try to distract you from the world and reality and the care says, Don't. Don't be filled with the anxieties of this world. Stop distracting yourself or amusing yourself to death. Be sober minded. Be watchful. Be warned. Be perpetually prepared. That should be the church. Are you prepared now? Are you ready now?

You know, when I was on active duty, I they're always doing exercises, exercise and exercise and exercise. And one exercise, I got to have a gas mask on my face, and I'm in this heavy gear, and I'm in a hot hanger.

Why? Why are we doing that? It's exercising. We're preparing for war. Why do you always see all these planes flying around from the military base? They're preparing, preparing, preparing.

Church. Are you preparing? Are you preparing right now? Are you perpetually preparing your heart to meet the Lord Jesus Christ?

If you're not prepared, Christ's return, as verse 34 says, will come upon like a trap, like an animal falling into a trap. That Jesus says like, like lightning flash as a thief comes in the light like in a moment and a twinkling of an eye, the world will be stopped, and the King of kings and the Lord of Lords will appear, be prepared, be watchful. And how can you stand before the Son of Man? Psalm 130 says, If you Lord should mark iniquities. O Lord, who could stand? But then it says that there's forgiveness with you.

And I'll end just with a quote of a, of a of a hymn, which I think summarizes well everything that I'm trying to say. You listening because I've said a lot. There's a long chapter.

There's a lot going on here, but listen, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus's blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus's name when he shall come with trumpet sound, oh May I then in him be found dressed in his righteousness alone faultless to stand before the throne on Christ, the solid rock. I stand.

All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking. Stand. Are you prepared to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, put your faith in him now. Today is the day of salvation. Let's pray Our Father. We pray that you will help us to be perpetually prepared. Lord, if there is anything we have learned that is Jesus's words never fail. They always come true, and Lord, even in this challenging text, let that, let it be a sobering reminder to us to be watchful, to be worn, to not be caught up in the anxieties and the worries of news cycles, but to look to the Lord, to put our faith in Him, to rest in Him, to not be anxious, to not be afraid, but to be preparing ourselves and even preparing ourselves for witness, preparing to give a word of hope to those who are perishing, lest They too die.

Lord help us to put our trust, not in anything that appears sweet in this world, but that we would be found addressed in the righteousness of Christ alone, our rock. Let us find ourselves hiding in him, and it's in Jesus's name we pray. Amen.

Amen.