May 12, 2025 • 32 mins
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Jesus delivers a profound prophetic message known as the Olivet Discourse, predicting both the temple's destruction and His eventual return to establish God's kingdom on earth.
• Jesus predicts the complete destruction of the Jerusalem temple, fulfilled in AD 70 when Roman soldiers tore it apart stone by stone
• The Bible contains over 200 specific prophecies about Jesus's first coming that were fulfilled with perfect accuracy
• Biblical prophecy gives us proper perspective, showing that material things we value highly are temporary
• Jesus describes a future tribulation period worse than anything the world has ever experienced or will experience
• We must distinguish between true prophets (whose words come to pass and align with Scripture) and false ones
• The principle of imminence - that Jesus could return at any moment - should motivate us to stay spiritually vigilant
• Jesus commands us to "watch" and be ready, living in a way that pleases Him whenever He returns
Watch and be ready, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming. Live in such a way that you're always doing what pleases the Master.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
All right, mark, chapter 13, lucky number 13.
All right, Mark, chapter 13,verse 1.
(00:35):
All right, well, we are goingthrough the final week of Jesus'
earthly ministry.
We've seen him facing off withthe religious leaders.
We saw him recently railing onthe establishment, pointed out
their corruption, and here inchapter 13, we move into what is
(00:59):
known by many as the OlivetDiscourse.
A little change of gears here,something that Jesus wanted to
share with his disciples, and itall comes about here in chapter
13, verse 1.
As they're leaving the temple,you can picture it he's just had
a pretty fiery exchange withthe religious leaders.
(01:22):
He called them brood of vipersand woe to you, whitewashed
tombs and all these differentthings.
He goes out having just kind ofreally put the establishment in
their place and one of hisdisciples hits him with an
observation, maybe wondering isit all bad right?
(01:43):
Notice verse one.
Then, as he went out of thetemple, one of his disciples
said to him teacher, see whatmanner of stones and what
buildings are here.
So again, maybe it's justtrying to kind of redeem the
whole structure.
He's went off on the religiousleaders and as they leave the
(02:05):
temple temple one of hisdisciples says but teacher, you
check out these stones, thesebig rocks that the temple was
made of.
Amazing, one of the wonders ofthe ancient world.
We talked about it last timethese giant stones of the temple
, some of them as big as cars,right, so notice as they leave.
(02:29):
This disciple says look at thistemple, though, jesus.
Is it all bad?
Is it all for nothing?
And Jesus answered in verse twoand said to him do you see
these great buildings?
Not one stone will be left uponanother that shall not be torn
down, and from here Jesus goes21.
(03:06):
But the subject here?
Jesus brings up the futuredestruction of Jerusalem and in
this chapter, a more distant,his second coming to establish
his kingdom.
Now, as you know, I'm in no rushto get through this book, so
we'll take as long as we need toget through chapter 13.
(03:26):
But what I want to do is I wantto take the next about four
minutes.
I timed it out and I want toread chapter 13.
So you can kind of get it as awhole before we jump into it.
So follow along if you can.
It's going to be a little bitof reading, but I know you can
do it.
We can do it together, right,if you can.
It's going to be a little bitof reading, but I know you can
do it.
We can do it together.
Right, verse 3.
(03:47):
As he sat on the Mount of Olivesopposite the temple, peter,
james, john and Andrew asked himprivately Tell us when will
these things be?
What will be the sign when allthese things will be fulfilled?
Jesus, answering them, began tosay Take heed that no one
deceives you, for many will comein my name saying I am he and
(04:10):
will deceive many.
But when you hear of wars andrumors of wars, do not be
troubled, for such things musthappen.
But the end is not yet, fornation will rise against nation
and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes invarious places and there will be
famines and troubles.
(04:31):
These are the beginning ofsorrows.
But watch for yourselves, forthey will deliver you up to
councils and you will be beatenin the synagogues.
You will be brought beforerulers and kings for my name's
sake, for a testimony to them,and the gospel must first be
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preached to all the nations.
But when they arrest you anddeliver you up, do not worry
beforehand or premeditate whatyou will speak For.
Whatever is given to you inthat hour, speak that, for it is
not you who speak, but the HolySpirit.
Now, brother will betraybrother to death, and father,
his child and children will riseup against parents and cause
(05:16):
them to be put to death.
You will be hated by all, formy name's sake.
But he who endures to the endshall be saved.
So when you see the abominationof desolation spoken of by
Daniel, the prophet, standingwhere it ought not, let the
reader understand, and we'lltake time to understand that
later on then let those who arein Judea flee to the mountains.
(05:39):
Let him who is on the housetopnot go down into the house nor
enter to take anything out ofhis house, and let him who is in
the field not go back to gethis clothes.
But woe to those who arepregnant and those who are
nursing babies in those days,and pray that your flight may
not be in winter, for in thosedays there will be tribulation
(06:00):
Such has not been since thebeginning of the creation which
God created until this time.
Nor shall ever be, ever shallbe.
And unless the Lord hadshortened those days, no flesh
would be saved.
But for the elect's sake, whomhe chose, he shortened the days.
If anyone says to you look, hereis the Christ, or look, he is
(06:21):
there.
Do not believe, for falseChrists and false prophets will
rise and show signs and wonders,to deceive if possible, even
the elect.
But take heed, see, I have toldyou these things beforehand.
But in those days after thattribulation, the sun will be
darkened and the moon will notgive its light.
The stars of heaven will falland the powers in the heavens
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will be shaken.
Then they will see the Son ofman coming in the clouds with
great power and glory, and hewill send his angels and gather
together his elect from the fourwinds and from the farthest
part of the earth to thefarthest part of heaven.
Now learn the parable from thefig tree.
(07:03):
When its branches alreadybecome tender and puts forth
leaves, you know that summer isnear.
So you also, when you see thesethings happening, know that it
is near at the doors.
Assuredly, I say to you thisgeneration will by no means pass
away.
Till all things take place,heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will by no meanspass away.
(07:23):
But of that day and hour no oneknows, not even the angels in
heaven, nor the son, nor thefather.
Take heed, watch and pray, foryou do not know when the time is
.
It's like a man going to a farcountry who left his house and
gave authority to his servantsand each his work, and commanded
the doorkeeper to watch.
Watch, therefore, that you donot know when the master of the
(07:45):
house is coming in the eveningat midnight, at the crowing of
the rooster in the morning, lestcoming.
Suddenly he find you sleeping.
And what I say to you, I say toall watch, good job, we did it.
This is the prophetic word ofthe Olivet Discourse.
Lots of stuff here and somestuff that will just kind of
(08:06):
make your mind turn around anddo backflips, but here it is,
this word of prophecy, and I'mgoing to keep it pretty simple
today.
We're not going to go too faron any of this, but the word of
prophecy, prophecy is one ofthose things that sells books,
doesn't it?
It's pretty exciting to us whenwe hear the word prophecy and
(08:30):
we think of prophecy.
We think of telling the futurebefore it happens.
The word basically means tospeak forth the word of God.
That's what prophecy means tosay what God says.
So we see the prophets.
Then.
They demonstrated this manytimes.
They had their phrase thussaith the Lord, right, king
(08:54):
James.
They all spoke King JamesEnglish and they would tell the
people what God was saying.
What God was saying Sometimesit was a message stop sinning,
turn away from your idolatry.
Other times it was somethingthat was going to happen.
The Bible is filled withprophecy.
(09:16):
Now get this.
That's one of the things thatmakes this book so special.
God in it tells things that aregoing to happen.
He tells it before they happen.
He tells the future.
Check it out.
That's one thing that only Godcan do is tell the future.
(09:37):
Nobody else knows the futurebut God.
He's eternal.
He sees the beginning, he seesthe end, he knows it all.
No big deal for him.
Now the Bible is filled withprophecies, some over 200
prophecies just about Jesus,specific prophecies.
Example of these propheciesMicah, chapter 5, verse 2, lets
(10:02):
us know that the Christ willcome from Bethlehem, born in
Bethlehem.
Daniel, chapter 9, lets us knowthe exact day that he would
come in as the Messiah.
We saw that just a few, a monthor so ago, as he rode into
Jerusalem.
It was the exact day thatDaniel had foretold down to the
(10:24):
day.
Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9,says that he'd come riding on a
donkey's colt right.
Psalm 22 would predict the waythat he would die.
The psalmist says my hands andmy feet are pierced, hands and
feet pierced Over a hundredyears before crucifixion was
(10:48):
even invented.
God said this is the way it'sgonna go down.
And so many more specificprophecies.
God does it because, as eternal, he knows the beginning from
the end.
He sees it all.
He knows the beginning from theend.
He sees it all.
In verse 2, chapter 13,.
(11:09):
Verse 2, jesus is invoking thatsame prophetic word.
Look at it.
He points to this building, thetemple, and he says do you see
these buildings?
Not one stone shall be leftupon another that shall not be
thrown down.
Well, jesus was foretellingsomething that a lot of these
(11:30):
disciples would actually see, ormaybe read about in the news
that less than 40 years later,in AD 70, the general Titus
Vespasian would come intoJerusalem.
Rome had put up with the Jewsfor a long time.
Every so often they would rebeland riot, and finally Rome says
(11:51):
that's enough.
And so they send Titus, thegeneral, into Jerusalem.
They slaughtered so many people, they burned the place.
But check it out.
Check it out.
Command is given to thesoldiers, don't mess with the
temple.
We have invested a lot in thistemple.
(12:14):
Rome says it was beautiful,covered in gold, right, and they
were given the order don'ttouch the temple.
Well, somebody, some drunkensoldier probably, threw a torch
in the temple and it began toburn and the whole temple burned
down.
Well, as it burned, the goldstarted to melt and it went into
(12:41):
the cracks and crevices therein the pavement.
And so, rather than call it acomplete loss, they took
crowbars and they began to pullthat temple apart, brick by
brick, to get to the gold thathad had melted and went down
into the bottom.
They tossed all these stonesinto the valley, and you can see
(13:02):
them even today, today.
And so, just like Jesus said,against the command of the
general, that building was tornapart and not one stone was
standing upon the other.
How did he know that?
Well, he was God for one right,but it's.
(13:22):
It's God knowing what's goingto happen, and he tells it in
detail.
So this would happen in some oftheir lifetimes.
And we see here that Jesus goesfrom that point and he goes
into the future.
He gives a prophetic warning tothe disciples.
(13:45):
We'll probably look at it inmore detail.
But look at verse nine anothertime.
But look at verse nine.
Watch out for yourselves, forthey will deliver you up to
councils and you'll be beaten inthe synagogues.
You'll be brought before rulersand kings, for my name's sake,
as a testimony to them.
So Jesus goes on to tell themwhat their lives were going to
(14:06):
be like, and you know the storythere as we moved into the book
of Acts.
Times were not always good.
They were not good at all.
For a lot of people in theearly church it meant
imprisonment.
They were beaten, they werekilled for what they believed.
And Jesus warns them and saysyou'll be hated verse 13.
(14:28):
You'll be arrested there.
In verse 11.
And he tells them endure to theend.
Now, this is a warning for hisdisciples.
But when we get to verse 14, wesee something interesting happen
.
In verse 14, between verse 13and 14,.
In verse 14, between verse 13and 14, it's almost as if
(14:50):
there's a pause to the wholething.
If it was a movie, you'd presspause and go get a snack, and
you'd come back a little laterand you'd finish it up.
It seems like in verse 14, thispart has not happened yet.
Now God can do that becausehe's eternal Right.
The story continues, but there'sa little bit of a break.
(15:12):
Notice verse 14.
He says when you see theabomination of desolation spoken
of by Daniel the prophet, nowthis is something that has not
happened yet.
He says let the readerunderstand.
He's not really talking to thedisciples as much at this point.
(15:33):
He's looking at us, right?
Mark here puts in let thereader.
This is for the reader, right?
This is not necessarily for thedisciples, this is for the
reader.
You've got to understand whatthis abomination of desolation
is all about and we'll go overit.
But it hasn't happened yet.
It's sort of a littleforeshadowing of it has happened
(15:54):
at one point in the past, butthis exact thing after the time
of Jesus hasn't happened.
It didn't happen in AD 70 whenTitus came.
Now he goes on and he explainseven more.
Look at verse 19.
(16:16):
Very important, for in thosedays there will be tribulation
such as not been since thebeginning of the creation, which
God created until this time,nor ever shall be.
So Jesus says, he's explainingit, says it's going to get bad.
It's going to get worse thanit's ever been.
It's never going to be as badas it will be during this time,
(16:39):
this time of tribulation.
Now, the time in AD 70 was bad.
I mean for the people who wentthrough it, it was absolutely
horrific.
But honestly, and not tominimize it, honestly, there
were things that have happenedin history that were probably
worse than that, worse genocidethan that.
So has something worse comesand sent.
(17:02):
Yes, so this hasn't beenfulfilled yet.
There's going to be tribulationthat nothing from before,
nothing from after, even comesclose to how hard it's going to
be.
Well, that time hasn't come.
The bible speaks of this time asthe great tribulation, and
notice how even nature itself ispart of this, verse 24.
(17:26):
But in those days after thattribulation, the sun will be
darkened, the moon will not giveits light, the stars of heaven
will fall and the powers of theheaven will be shaken and they
will see the son of man comingin the clouds with great power
and glory.
So some natural events thestars falling from the sky don't
(17:48):
.
Obviously that's not literallypossible.
But there's some really gnarlystuff.
To go back to the Californiaroots, I can't believe I said
that gnarly stuff that happensduring this tribulation.
You can read the book ofRevelation to get a taste of it.
But unheard of stuff,earth-ending kind of stuff,
hasn't happened before.
(18:10):
We're still waiting for it.
But notice, then they will seethe Son of man coming in the
clouds with great power andglory.
Jesus will literally come andestablish his kingdom on earth.
That's how the whole story endson earth.
That's how the whole story endsGod will establish his kingdom
forever on earth.
(18:39):
Now some, some believers, evenlook at this portion of
scripture and they say it didhappen in AD 70.
There's some that say we're notwaiting for anything.
It happened, and if that weretrue, I'd have to say that God's
kingdom on earth doesn't lookreal promising, because I watch
the news and Jesus is not rulingand reigning on planet Earth
Not literally, that's for sure.
And so this hasn't happenedbefore.
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It will happen still in thefuture and we'll take some time
to look at that.
Been still in the future andwe'll take some time to look at
that.
Now a couple of things I justwant to go over here before we
end our time is one a warningand two an encouragement.
All right, so a little bit of awarning Now.
Maybe you're not into prophecy,but for most people it's kind of
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electrifying.
Like I said, if you're gonnawrite a book in the church,
write on the last days and it'llsell, right, current events.
Write it.
It'll sell lots of copies,because we're drawn to that kind
of stuff, aren't we?
We're drawn to secretinformation.
Even if we don't believe infortune cookies, we're still
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very tempted to see what it hasto say to us, right, no
superstition there, but you know, hey, if you know something
that I don't know, let me know.
I want to know.
Now.
It's the same reason why welove conspiracy theories and
we're all waiting for the JFKfiles, right, we look every day
to see if they've been released.
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We like things that we don'tknow right now.
We like to have that secretinformation, something that's
beyond normal knowledge.
And when someone tells us thussaith the Lord, now, I don't
know why they would use KingJames English, but actually,
nine times out of 10, that's nota real statistic, by the way I
think people do say thus saiththe Lord.
(20:30):
Right, it sounds good.
We love it when people say thatkind of stuff to us, because
what does God want to say to meNow?
In the Bible, there are prophetsand there are false prophets.
True prophets speak the wordand it lines up with God's word
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or it comes to pass.
That's how you know a trueprophet.
Jeremiah 28, 9 says this as forthe prophet who prophesies a
peace, when the word of theprophet comes to pass, the
prophet will be known as the onewhom the Lord has truly sent.
So a sign that a prophet is areal prophet is what they say
comes to pass.
(21:14):
If not, disregard is what we'retold.
Deuteronomy 18.22 says this whena prophet speaks in the name of
the Lord, if the thing does nothappen or come to pass, that is
a thing which the Lord has notspoken.
The prophet has spoken itpresumptuously.
(21:35):
You shall not be afraid of himand notice this in Deuteronomy
18.20,.
But the prophet who presumes tospeak the word in my name,
god's name, which I have notcommanded him to speak, or
speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die right
Now.
We don't go killing falseprophets.
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It's not something we can orreally want to do at this point.
But God here says the falseprophet, don't listen to him.
In that time period, a falseprophet shall surely die, or
even one that speaks in the nameof other gods.
Come, follow me to idolatry.
God says worship these gods too.
(22:17):
Anyone who comes saying thosekinds of things, disregard.
Right, there are false prophets.
Now how do we know if they'retrue?
Well, one, what they say comesto pass.
But really, if it lines up withGod's word, that's a wonderful
(22:39):
thing.
We have God's word.
Signs up with God's word?
That's the wonderful thing.
We have God's word.
And according to Hebrews, sorry,malachi 3.6,.
False prophet Malachi 3.6 saysthis for I am the Lord and I do
not change, file that in yourmind, malachi 3.6,.
For I am the Lord and I do notchange.
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God doesn't change.
There's no evolution of how Godthinks right.
What was true back then is truetoday.
God's character doesn't change.
Truth doesn't change.
So we compare what God has saidabout himself already and about
the future and about our lives,and that will tell us if
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somebody is true or false.
We are safe I'm just frompersonal experience here.
We're safe to be a littleskeptical when someone says to
us thus saith the Lord Right.
It seems that that kind of talkis always a last resort for God
Right.
God tells us the truths ofsomething in his word Due to
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Exodus, chapter 20,.
We have the Ten CommandmentsRight.
God said have no other godsbefore me, right.
And the problem was that peopledidn't listen to that.
People got their own gods.
They served idols, things thatGod specifically said not to do.
They didn't listen to that law,and so God sent prophets.
(24:15):
But check it out.
He had already told them pointblank don't have any other gods
before me.
They wouldn't listen, so Godsent someone else.
We love to hear, thus saith theLord, from other people.
It's amazing, it's electrifying.
God told you about me, but knowthis that if God wants to tell
you something, he will tell youfirst.
(24:38):
And knowing how God'sconviction, the Holy Spirit,
convicts, you'll know what God'stelling you Because he'll say
it over and over and over againto your heart, day and night.
When you wake up, when you goto sleep, he'll be saying you
know what that needs to change.
If you don't listen, then maybeexpect somebody to come to you
(24:58):
with a message.
You know, I think God might betelling you this.
Okay, you know, but it'll onlybe what God's been telling you,
because he has your number.
Realize that God won't justcome out of the blue with
something that he's never saidbefore.
Now, I know this because I'vebeen burnt right, I've been
burnt over the years and wedon't need to get into specifics
(25:19):
, but I love the idea that Godwould tell somebody something
for me.
Don't fall into that trap.
It's a real danger For a storythat goes along with this, 1
Kings 13,.
Go check it out.
It's a great, great story thereof somebody who didn't listen
to what God had said.
All right, now those are somewarnings.
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But what does prophecy produce?
And this won't take long, right, prophecy produces a right
perspective.
Look at verse two again.
It's the whole deal of Jesussaying these buildings, not one
stone, will be left upon another.
We talked about it last week,but that's a great perspective
(26:04):
to have.
As God says, all this stuff isgonna burn.
I mean that is kind of the lastbit of the book of Revelation.
None of this stuff now listen,none of this stuff that we hold
on to so dearly is gonna bethere in the end.
None of this stuff and prophecyof God's future judgment
(26:26):
setting all things right.
It does a lot to kind of sortout what's really important in
our hearts.
What's really important Eternalthings, a relationship with God
, our love and ministry to otherpeople.
Those things are eternal.
So we want to live for thosethings.
(26:47):
But look at verse 7.
There's also a confidence thatit gives us here.
He's talking to his disciples.
He says you hear of wars andrumors of wars, but do not be
troubled.
Now, I think this is a messagethat God gives us.
As we look at the last days andthe things to come, we see our
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world falling apart and yet werealize that God has a glorious
end in the future.
So those things are important.
But the last thing I want us tosee here today is that it gives
us an awareness.
Look at verse 5.
Jesus, answering them, began tosay take heed, take heed.
(27:32):
That's an awareness.
Also, in verse 9, it says watch.
Verse 23,.
Again, again, take heed.
Verse 33, 35 and 37 watch right.
So put all those words togetheruh, watch, take heed, be ready,
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kind of thing.
Uh, an understanding of thelast days and what's going to
happen should make us aware ofthings around us, the way things
really are.
We tend to zone out, and maybeit is getting close to lunch,
maybe you're getting to thatpoint right now.
I'm almost done, but a coupleof days ago I got to get a story
(28:17):
in for going to say a couple ofdays ago, get a story in, for
goodness sake.
A couple days ago, I waswalking out of my mom's house
and I decided to check my pulse.
I just felt a little high.
I'm checking my pulse and I wasstanding on the path over there
and I checked it.
Oh, that's surprisingly good.
And as I looked down I saw,about a foot away from my foot,
(28:42):
about a three foot long snake.
Now you know how much I lovesnakes, right, but I would never
let myself get that close to asnake, even if it wasn't a bad
snake, it was an okay snake.
We let it live.
But you know, I was so spacedout and in my own little world I
didn't even notice.
It was right there next to meand I never saw me move so quick
(29:06):
.
You know, surprise, and youknow that's the way we can be in
life.
That's why, in Ephesians, paulsays walk circumspectly, right,
look around Now.
I do look around now.
I look all over the place now,because we've had a lot of
snakes and that's the way I livearound.
(29:28):
This property is looking aroundcircumspectly.
But check it out.
Jesus tells us these things notjust so that people can write a
book about it, not just to makepeople nervous, but to make
people aware.
There's a biblical principlecalled eminence, right, and the
idea is that Jesus could comeback at any time and notice.
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We won't look too much in depth, but Jesus tells a story about
it there in verse 34.
It says it's like a man goingto a far country who left his
house and gave authority to hisservants, and each to his work,
and commanded the doorkeeper towatch.
Watch.
Therefore, you do not know whenthe master of the house is
coming, and that's a biblicalprinciple.
We're all God's servants andthe key is to be ready for when
(30:16):
he comes, that we're doing theright thing.
You'd want that at your job,right?
Don't you hate it when you'rejust having to be the one moment
that you're goofing off orsomething Not that any of you
would ever goof off, but youknow you're on your phone and
the boss comes around and youknow there's that feeling of
dread, like now what you know.
Well, jesus here says it's likethat.
Well, jesus here says it's likethat.
(30:39):
You don't know when the masteris coming.
Live in such a way that you'realways ready, doing what pleases
the master, not just because offear, but because isn't that
what you want, isn't that whatwe all want?
To be found doing what God hasfor us to do, not absorbed in
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some worthless thing.
And so this whole idea that oneday God's going to set all
things right and Jesus saysnobody knows a day or hour when
it's going to come to pass incompletion.
But we want to be ready, and sothat's as we study this more.
That's where it should bring usto this point, where it really
(31:20):
gives us an urgency to live forwhat really matters, not waste
our time with things that don'tmatter, not live in ways that
will be unpleasing ordispleasing, I guess, to the
Lord when he comes.
So, God, we do look around inour world and we know that these
(31:42):
things could happen 100 yearsfrom now, but we also know that
there's nothing that we'rewaiting for, god.
Some stuff seems like it'sright at the door, and yet we
want to be ready and we want tobe pleasing you, god.
We want these things to changeour life, this idea that you can
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come at any time, god.
I pray that as we take a fewweeks and look at this passage,
I pray that it be more than justsomething fascinating to know.
But, god, you would change ourhearts, god, that we would live
for eternity.
So, god, help these things toapply to our own hearts today.
Thank you so much for the waythat you love us, and we give
(32:28):
you our week and everythingbefore us In Jesus' name amen.
All right, mark, chapter 13, lucky number 13.
All right, Mark, chapter 13,verse 1.
(00:35):
All right, well, we are goingthrough the final week of Jesus'
earthly ministry.
We've seen him facing off withthe religious leaders.
We saw him recently railing onthe establishment, pointed out
their corruption, and here inchapter 13, we move into what is
(00:59):
known by many as the OlivetDiscourse.
A little change of gears here,something that Jesus wanted to
share with his disciples, and itall comes about here in chapter
13, verse 1.
As they're leaving the temple,you can picture it he's just had
a pretty fiery exchange withthe religious leaders.
(01:22):
He called them brood of vipersand woe to you, whitewashed
tombs and all these differentthings.
He goes out having just kind ofreally put the establishment in
their place and one of hisdisciples hits him with an
observation, maybe wondering isit all bad right?
(01:43):
Notice verse one.
Then, as he went out of thetemple, one of his disciples
said to him teacher, see whatmanner of stones and what
buildings are here.
So again, maybe it's justtrying to kind of redeem the
whole structure.
He's went off on the religiousleaders and as they leave the
(02:05):
temple temple one of hisdisciples says but teacher, you
check out these stones, thesebig rocks that the temple was
made of.
Amazing, one of the wonders ofthe ancient world.
We talked about it last timethese giant stones of the temple
, some of them as big as cars,right, so notice as they leave.
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This disciple says look at thistemple, though, jesus.
Is it all bad?
Is it all for nothing?
And Jesus answered in verse twoand said to him do you see
these great buildings?
Not one stone will be left uponanother that shall not be torn
down, and from here Jesus goes21.
(03:06):
But the subject here?
Jesus brings up the futuredestruction of Jerusalem and in
this chapter, a more distant,his second coming to establish
his kingdom.
Now, as you know, I'm in no rushto get through this book, so
we'll take as long as we need toget through chapter 13.
(03:26):
But what I want to do is I wantto take the next about four
minutes.
I timed it out and I want toread chapter 13.
So you can kind of get it as awhole before we jump into it.
So follow along if you can.
It's going to be a little bitof reading, but I know you can
do it.
We can do it together, right,if you can.
It's going to be a little bitof reading, but I know you can
do it.
We can do it together.
Right, verse 3.
(03:47):
As he sat on the Mount of Olivesopposite the temple, peter,
james, john and Andrew asked himprivately Tell us when will
these things be?
What will be the sign when allthese things will be fulfilled?
Jesus, answering them, began tosay Take heed that no one
deceives you, for many will comein my name saying I am he and
(04:10):
will deceive many.
But when you hear of wars andrumors of wars, do not be
troubled, for such things musthappen.
But the end is not yet, fornation will rise against nation
and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes invarious places and there will be
famines and troubles.
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These are the beginning ofsorrows.
But watch for yourselves, forthey will deliver you up to
councils and you will be beatenin the synagogues.
You will be brought beforerulers and kings for my name's
sake, for a testimony to them,and the gospel must first be
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preached to all the nations.
But when they arrest you anddeliver you up, do not worry
beforehand or premeditate whatyou will speak For.
Whatever is given to you inthat hour, speak that, for it is
not you who speak, but the HolySpirit.
Now, brother will betraybrother to death, and father,
his child and children will riseup against parents and cause
(05:16):
them to be put to death.
You will be hated by all, formy name's sake.
But he who endures to the endshall be saved.
So when you see the abominationof desolation spoken of by
Daniel, the prophet, standingwhere it ought not, let the
reader understand, and we'lltake time to understand that
later on then let those who arein Judea flee to the mountains.
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Let him who is on the housetopnot go down into the house nor
enter to take anything out ofhis house, and let him who is in
the field not go back to gethis clothes.
But woe to those who arepregnant and those who are
nursing babies in those days,and pray that your flight may
not be in winter, for in thosedays there will be tribulation
(06:00):
Such has not been since thebeginning of the creation which
God created until this time.
Nor shall ever be, ever shallbe.
And unless the Lord hadshortened those days, no flesh
would be saved.
But for the elect's sake, whomhe chose, he shortened the days.
If anyone says to you look, hereis the Christ, or look, he is
(06:21):
there.
Do not believe, for falseChrists and false prophets will
rise and show signs and wonders,to deceive if possible, even
the elect.
But take heed, see, I have toldyou these things beforehand.
But in those days after thattribulation, the sun will be
darkened and the moon will notgive its light.
The stars of heaven will falland the powers in the heavens
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will be shaken.
Then they will see the Son ofman coming in the clouds with
great power and glory, and hewill send his angels and gather
together his elect from the fourwinds and from the farthest
part of the earth to thefarthest part of heaven.
Now learn the parable from thefig tree.
(07:03):
When its branches alreadybecome tender and puts forth
leaves, you know that summer isnear.
So you also, when you see thesethings happening, know that it
is near at the doors.
Assuredly, I say to you thisgeneration will by no means pass
away.
Till all things take place,heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will by no meanspass away.
(07:23):
But of that day and hour no oneknows, not even the angels in
heaven, nor the son, nor thefather.
Take heed, watch and pray, foryou do not know when the time is
.
It's like a man going to a farcountry who left his house and
gave authority to his servantsand each his work, and commanded
the doorkeeper to watch.
Watch, therefore, that you donot know when the master of the
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house is coming in the eveningat midnight, at the crowing of
the rooster in the morning, lestcoming.
Suddenly he find you sleeping.
And what I say to you, I say toall watch, good job, we did it.
This is the prophetic word ofthe Olivet Discourse.
Lots of stuff here and somestuff that will just kind of
(08:06):
make your mind turn around anddo backflips, but here it is,
this word of prophecy, and I'mgoing to keep it pretty simple
today.
We're not going to go too faron any of this, but the word of
prophecy, prophecy is one ofthose things that sells books,
doesn't it?
It's pretty exciting to us whenwe hear the word prophecy and
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we think of prophecy.
We think of telling the futurebefore it happens.
The word basically means tospeak forth the word of God.
That's what prophecy means tosay what God says.
So we see the prophets.
Then.
They demonstrated this manytimes.
They had their phrase thussaith the Lord, right, king
(08:54):
James.
They all spoke King JamesEnglish and they would tell the
people what God was saying.
What God was saying Sometimesit was a message stop sinning,
turn away from your idolatry.
Other times it was somethingthat was going to happen.
The Bible is filled withprophecy.
(09:16):
Now get this.
That's one of the things thatmakes this book so special.
God in it tells things that aregoing to happen.
He tells it before they happen.
He tells the future.
Check it out.
That's one thing that only Godcan do is tell the future.
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Nobody else knows the futurebut God.
He's eternal.
He sees the beginning, he seesthe end, he knows it all.
No big deal for him.
Now the Bible is filled withprophecies, some over 200
prophecies just about Jesus,specific prophecies.
Example of these propheciesMicah, chapter 5, verse 2, lets
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us know that the Christ willcome from Bethlehem, born in
Bethlehem.
Daniel, chapter 9, lets us knowthe exact day that he would
come in as the Messiah.
We saw that just a few, a monthor so ago, as he rode into
Jerusalem.
It was the exact day thatDaniel had foretold down to the
(10:24):
day.
Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9,says that he'd come riding on a
donkey's colt right.
Psalm 22 would predict the waythat he would die.
The psalmist says my hands andmy feet are pierced, hands and
feet pierced Over a hundredyears before crucifixion was
(10:48):
even invented.
God said this is the way it'sgonna go down.
And so many more specificprophecies.
God does it because, as eternal, he knows the beginning from
the end.
He sees it all.
He knows the beginning from theend.
He sees it all.
In verse 2, chapter 13,.
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Verse 2, jesus is invoking thatsame prophetic word.
Look at it.
He points to this building, thetemple, and he says do you see
these buildings?
Not one stone shall be leftupon another that shall not be
thrown down.
Well, jesus was foretellingsomething that a lot of these
(11:30):
disciples would actually see, ormaybe read about in the news
that less than 40 years later,in AD 70, the general Titus
Vespasian would come intoJerusalem.
Rome had put up with the Jewsfor a long time.
Every so often they would rebeland riot, and finally Rome says
(11:51):
that's enough.
And so they send Titus, thegeneral, into Jerusalem.
They slaughtered so many people, they burned the place.
But check it out.
Check it out.
Command is given to thesoldiers, don't mess with the
temple.
We have invested a lot in thistemple.
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Rome says it was beautiful,covered in gold, right, and they
were given the order don'ttouch the temple.
Well, somebody, some drunkensoldier probably, threw a torch
in the temple and it began toburn and the whole temple burned
down.
Well, as it burned, the goldstarted to melt and it went into
(12:41):
the cracks and crevices therein the pavement.
And so, rather than call it acomplete loss, they took
crowbars and they began to pullthat temple apart, brick by
brick, to get to the gold thathad had melted and went down
into the bottom.
They tossed all these stonesinto the valley, and you can see
(13:02):
them even today, today.
And so, just like Jesus said,against the command of the
general, that building was tornapart and not one stone was
standing upon the other.
How did he know that?
Well, he was God for one right,but it's.
(13:22):
It's God knowing what's goingto happen, and he tells it in
detail.
So this would happen in some oftheir lifetimes.
And we see here that Jesus goesfrom that point and he goes
into the future.
He gives a prophetic warning tothe disciples.
(13:45):
We'll probably look at it inmore detail.
But look at verse nine anothertime.
But look at verse nine.
Watch out for yourselves, forthey will deliver you up to
councils and you'll be beaten inthe synagogues.
You'll be brought before rulersand kings, for my name's sake,
as a testimony to them.
So Jesus goes on to tell themwhat their lives were going to
(14:06):
be like, and you know the storythere as we moved into the book
of Acts.
Times were not always good.
They were not good at all.
For a lot of people in theearly church it meant
imprisonment.
They were beaten, they werekilled for what they believed.
And Jesus warns them and saysyou'll be hated verse 13.
(14:28):
You'll be arrested there.
In verse 11.
And he tells them endure to theend.
Now, this is a warning for hisdisciples.
But when we get to verse 14, wesee something interesting happen
.
In verse 14, between verse 13and 14,.
In verse 14, between verse 13and 14, it's almost as if
(14:50):
there's a pause to the wholething.
If it was a movie, you'd presspause and go get a snack, and
you'd come back a little laterand you'd finish it up.
It seems like in verse 14, thispart has not happened yet.
Now God can do that becausehe's eternal Right.
The story continues, but there'sa little bit of a break.
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Notice verse 14.
He says when you see theabomination of desolation spoken
of by Daniel the prophet, nowthis is something that has not
happened yet.
He says let the readerunderstand.
He's not really talking to thedisciples as much at this point.
(15:33):
He's looking at us, right?
Mark here puts in let thereader.
This is for the reader, right?
This is not necessarily for thedisciples, this is for the
reader.
You've got to understand whatthis abomination of desolation
is all about and we'll go overit.
But it hasn't happened yet.
It's sort of a littleforeshadowing of it has happened
(15:54):
at one point in the past, butthis exact thing after the time
of Jesus hasn't happened.
It didn't happen in AD 70 whenTitus came.
Now he goes on and he explainseven more.
Look at verse 19.
(16:16):
Very important, for in thosedays there will be tribulation
such as not been since thebeginning of the creation, which
God created until this time,nor ever shall be.
So Jesus says, he's explainingit, says it's going to get bad.
It's going to get worse thanit's ever been.
It's never going to be as badas it will be during this time,
(16:39):
this time of tribulation.
Now, the time in AD 70 was bad.
I mean for the people who wentthrough it, it was absolutely
horrific.
But honestly, and not tominimize it, honestly, there
were things that have happenedin history that were probably
worse than that, worse genocidethan that.
So has something worse comesand sent.
(17:02):
Yes, so this hasn't beenfulfilled yet.
There's going to be tribulationthat nothing from before,
nothing from after, even comesclose to how hard it's going to
be.
Well, that time hasn't come.
The bible speaks of this time asthe great tribulation, and
notice how even nature itself ispart of this, verse 24.
(17:26):
But in those days after thattribulation, the sun will be
darkened, the moon will not giveits light, the stars of heaven
will fall and the powers of theheaven will be shaken and they
will see the son of man comingin the clouds with great power
and glory.
So some natural events thestars falling from the sky don't
(17:48):
.
Obviously that's not literallypossible.
But there's some really gnarlystuff.
To go back to the Californiaroots, I can't believe I said
that gnarly stuff that happensduring this tribulation.
You can read the book ofRevelation to get a taste of it.
But unheard of stuff,earth-ending kind of stuff,
hasn't happened before.
(18:10):
We're still waiting for it.
But notice, then they will seethe Son of man coming in the
clouds with great power andglory.
Jesus will literally come andestablish his kingdom on earth.
That's how the whole story endson earth.
That's how the whole story endsGod will establish his kingdom
forever on earth.
(18:39):
Now some, some believers, evenlook at this portion of
scripture and they say it didhappen in AD 70.
There's some that say we're notwaiting for anything.
It happened, and if that weretrue, I'd have to say that God's
kingdom on earth doesn't lookreal promising, because I watch
the news and Jesus is not rulingand reigning on planet Earth
Not literally, that's for sure.
And so this hasn't happenedbefore.
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It will happen still in thefuture and we'll take some time
to look at that.
Been still in the future andwe'll take some time to look at
that.
Now a couple of things I justwant to go over here before we
end our time is one a warningand two an encouragement.
All right, so a little bit of awarning Now.
Maybe you're not into prophecy,but for most people it's kind of
(19:27):
electrifying.
Like I said, if you're gonnawrite a book in the church,
write on the last days and it'llsell, right, current events.
Write it.
It'll sell lots of copies,because we're drawn to that kind
of stuff, aren't we?
We're drawn to secretinformation.
Even if we don't believe infortune cookies, we're still
(19:48):
very tempted to see what it hasto say to us, right, no
superstition there, but you know, hey, if you know something
that I don't know, let me know.
I want to know.
Now.
It's the same reason why welove conspiracy theories and
we're all waiting for the JFKfiles, right, we look every day
to see if they've been released.
(20:09):
We like things that we don'tknow right now.
We like to have that secretinformation, something that's
beyond normal knowledge.
And when someone tells us thussaith the Lord, now, I don't
know why they would use KingJames English, but actually,
nine times out of 10, that's nota real statistic, by the way I
think people do say thus saiththe Lord.
(20:30):
Right, it sounds good.
We love it when people say thatkind of stuff to us, because
what does God want to say to meNow?
In the Bible, there are prophetsand there are false prophets.
True prophets speak the wordand it lines up with God's word
(20:53):
or it comes to pass.
That's how you know a trueprophet.
Jeremiah 28, 9 says this as forthe prophet who prophesies a
peace, when the word of theprophet comes to pass, the
prophet will be known as the onewhom the Lord has truly sent.
So a sign that a prophet is areal prophet is what they say
comes to pass.
(21:14):
If not, disregard is what we'retold.
Deuteronomy 18.22 says this whena prophet speaks in the name of
the Lord, if the thing does nothappen or come to pass, that is
a thing which the Lord has notspoken.
The prophet has spoken itpresumptuously.
(21:35):
You shall not be afraid of himand notice this in Deuteronomy
18.20,.
But the prophet who presumes tospeak the word in my name,
god's name, which I have notcommanded him to speak, or
speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die right
Now.
We don't go killing falseprophets.
(21:57):
It's not something we can orreally want to do at this point.
But God here says the falseprophet, don't listen to him.
In that time period, a falseprophet shall surely die, or
even one that speaks in the nameof other gods.
Come, follow me to idolatry.
God says worship these gods too.
(22:17):
Anyone who comes saying thosekinds of things, disregard.
Right, there are false prophets.
Now how do we know if they'retrue?
Well, one, what they say comesto pass.
But really, if it lines up withGod's word, that's a wonderful
(22:39):
thing.
We have God's word.
Signs up with God's word?
That's the wonderful thing.
We have God's word.
And according to Hebrews, sorry,malachi 3.6,.
False prophet Malachi 3.6 saysthis for I am the Lord and I do
not change, file that in yourmind, malachi 3.6,.
For I am the Lord and I do notchange.
(23:00):
God doesn't change.
There's no evolution of how Godthinks right.
What was true back then is truetoday.
God's character doesn't change.
Truth doesn't change.
So we compare what God has saidabout himself already and about
the future and about our lives,and that will tell us if
(23:25):
somebody is true or false.
We are safe I'm just frompersonal experience here.
We're safe to be a littleskeptical when someone says to
us thus saith the Lord Right.
It seems that that kind of talkis always a last resort for God
Right.
God tells us the truths ofsomething in his word Due to
(23:50):
Exodus, chapter 20,.
We have the Ten CommandmentsRight.
God said have no other godsbefore me, right.
And the problem was that peopledidn't listen to that.
People got their own gods.
They served idols, things thatGod specifically said not to do.
They didn't listen to that law,and so God sent prophets.
(24:15):
But check it out.
He had already told them pointblank don't have any other gods
before me.
They wouldn't listen, so Godsent someone else.
We love to hear, thus saith theLord, from other people.
It's amazing, it's electrifying.
God told you about me, but knowthis that if God wants to tell
you something, he will tell youfirst.
(24:38):
And knowing how God'sconviction, the Holy Spirit,
convicts, you'll know what God'stelling you Because he'll say
it over and over and over againto your heart, day and night.
When you wake up, when you goto sleep, he'll be saying you
know what that needs to change.
If you don't listen, then maybeexpect somebody to come to you
(24:58):
with a message.
You know, I think God might betelling you this.
Okay, you know, but it'll onlybe what God's been telling you,
because he has your number.
Realize that God won't justcome out of the blue with
something that he's never saidbefore.
Now, I know this because I'vebeen burnt right, I've been
burnt over the years and wedon't need to get into specifics
(25:19):
, but I love the idea that Godwould tell somebody something
for me.
Don't fall into that trap.
It's a real danger For a storythat goes along with this, 1
Kings 13,.
Go check it out.
It's a great, great story thereof somebody who didn't listen
to what God had said.
All right, now those are somewarnings.
(25:42):
But what does prophecy produce?
And this won't take long, right, prophecy produces a right
perspective.
Look at verse two again.
It's the whole deal of Jesussaying these buildings, not one
stone, will be left upon another.
We talked about it last week,but that's a great perspective
(26:04):
to have.
As God says, all this stuff isgonna burn.
I mean that is kind of the lastbit of the book of Revelation.
None of this stuff now listen,none of this stuff that we hold
on to so dearly is gonna bethere in the end.
None of this stuff and prophecyof God's future judgment
(26:26):
setting all things right.
It does a lot to kind of sortout what's really important in
our hearts.
What's really important Eternalthings, a relationship with God
, our love and ministry to otherpeople.
Those things are eternal.
So we want to live for thosethings.
(26:47):
But look at verse 7.
There's also a confidence thatit gives us here.
He's talking to his disciples.
He says you hear of wars andrumors of wars, but do not be
troubled.
Now, I think this is a messagethat God gives us.
As we look at the last days andthe things to come, we see our
(27:07):
world falling apart and yet werealize that God has a glorious
end in the future.
So those things are important.
But the last thing I want us tosee here today is that it gives
us an awareness.
Look at verse 5.
Jesus, answering them, began tosay take heed, take heed.
(27:32):
That's an awareness.
Also, in verse 9, it says watch.
Verse 23,.
Again, again, take heed.
Verse 33, 35 and 37 watch right.
So put all those words togetheruh, watch, take heed, be ready,
(27:54):
kind of thing.
Uh, an understanding of thelast days and what's going to
happen should make us aware ofthings around us, the way things
really are.
We tend to zone out, and maybeit is getting close to lunch,
maybe you're getting to thatpoint right now.
I'm almost done, but a coupleof days ago I got to get a story
(28:17):
in for going to say a couple ofdays ago, get a story in, for
goodness sake.
A couple days ago, I waswalking out of my mom's house
and I decided to check my pulse.
I just felt a little high.
I'm checking my pulse and I wasstanding on the path over there
and I checked it.
Oh, that's surprisingly good.
And as I looked down I saw,about a foot away from my foot,
(28:42):
about a three foot long snake.
Now you know how much I lovesnakes, right, but I would never
let myself get that close to asnake, even if it wasn't a bad
snake, it was an okay snake.
We let it live.
But you know, I was so spacedout and in my own little world I
didn't even notice.
It was right there next to meand I never saw me move so quick
(29:06):
.
You know, surprise, and youknow that's the way we can be in
life.
That's why, in Ephesians, paulsays walk circumspectly, right,
look around Now.
I do look around now.
I look all over the place now,because we've had a lot of
snakes and that's the way I livearound.
(29:28):
This property is looking aroundcircumspectly.
But check it out.
Jesus tells us these things notjust so that people can write a
book about it, not just to makepeople nervous, but to make
people aware.
There's a biblical principlecalled eminence, right, and the
idea is that Jesus could comeback at any time and notice.
(29:52):
We won't look too much in depth, but Jesus tells a story about
it there in verse 34.
It says it's like a man goingto a far country who left his
house and gave authority to hisservants, and each to his work,
and commanded the doorkeeper towatch.
Watch.
Therefore, you do not know whenthe master of the house is
coming, and that's a biblicalprinciple.
We're all God's servants andthe key is to be ready for when
(30:16):
he comes, that we're doing theright thing.
You'd want that at your job,right?
Don't you hate it when you'rejust having to be the one moment
that you're goofing off orsomething Not that any of you
would ever goof off, but youknow you're on your phone and
the boss comes around and youknow there's that feeling of
dread, like now what you know.
Well, jesus here says it's likethat.
Well, jesus here says it's likethat.
(30:39):
You don't know when the masteris coming.
Live in such a way that you'realways ready, doing what pleases
the master, not just because offear, but because isn't that
what you want, isn't that whatwe all want?
To be found doing what God hasfor us to do, not absorbed in
(31:00):
some worthless thing.
And so this whole idea that oneday God's going to set all
things right and Jesus saysnobody knows a day or hour when
it's going to come to pass incompletion.
But we want to be ready, and sothat's as we study this more.
That's where it should bring usto this point, where it really
(31:20):
gives us an urgency to live forwhat really matters, not waste
our time with things that don'tmatter, not live in ways that
will be unpleasing ordispleasing, I guess, to the
Lord when he comes.
So, God, we do look around inour world and we know that these
(31:42):
things could happen 100 yearsfrom now, but we also know that
there's nothing that we'rewaiting for, god.
Some stuff seems like it'sright at the door, and yet we
want to be ready and we want tobe pleasing you, god.
We want these things to changeour life, this idea that you can
(32:05):
come at any time, god.
I pray that as we take a fewweeks and look at this passage,
I pray that it be more than justsomething fascinating to know.
But, god, you would change ourhearts, god, that we would live
for eternity.
So, god, help these things toapply to our own hearts today.
Thank you so much for the waythat you love us, and we give
(32:28):
you our week and everythingbefore us In Jesus' name amen.
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