Please turn with me to Mark chapter 13. Mark chapter 13 is what we call the Olivet Discourse because Jesus spoke these words on the Mount of Olives. The Olivet Discourse is Christ's teaching concerning the last days or the end of time. And so far in our study, we've considered what the Olivet Discourse is, and you may remember that I mentioned that it's Christ's answer to two questions. The first question was, when will these great stones and buildings of the Jerusalem temple be destroyed? If you look there at Mark chapter 13 and verse 2, Jesus said, do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down. So naturally they wanted to know, well, when is this going to happen? They also wanted to know what the sign was going to be that all these things were going to be fulfilled. What will be the sign, verse 4? Because these disciples understood that if something like that was going to happen to their national temple, surely it would be in the midst of some great events. So when and what? We also learned at the beginning of this study that the Olivet Discourse, that is, all of Mark chapter 13, is his judgment on the temple. Earlier, he had brought judgment upon the temple in Mark chapter 11, verses 15 and following, when he condemned the business and the traffic of their supposed worship. and he says here that the temple is going to be destroyed. That's God's judgment. We also noted that it's His will for the gospel. In verse 10 of chapter 13, Jesus said, and it's easy to miss this verse in the midst of all of the end time teaching, but He said, the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. The gospel preachers would be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Verse 11, He said they are not to worry about what they were going to say because it was not they who would be speaking, but the Holy Spirit who would be speaking in them. It's also His revelation of the future. And this is the largest part of this Olivet Discourse. And we've been looking at these three things in detail. Jesus spoke to them about an abominable, sacrilegious deed that was going to occur that would bring desolation upon the people, that would scatter the people, And then he talked about a time of great and unprecedented tribulation in verse 19. And then he also spoke about the sign of the coming of the Son of Man. in verses 24 and following, that the sun would be darkened, the moon would not give its light, the stars would be falling from heaven, and the powers of the heavens would be shaken, they would see the Son of Man coming on the clouds, and then the last thing we studied was how the angels were going to be sent, and the angel reapers were going to reap God's people out of the earth, and so the end of the world. would begin, if we may put it that way. We also noted finally that the Olivet Discourse is Jesus, was His way or the means that He used to prepare His disciples for the future. Notice chapter 13, verse 23. Take heed, He said, I have told you everything in advance. I have told you everything in advance." Now, He didn't tell them absolutely everything, but the everything in advance means everything that you need to be prepared for the future, I have given to you. So now today we want to come to verses 28 through 32. So follow with me as I read Mark 13, 28 through 32, the portion that we have before us today. Now learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near right at the door. 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." Now we want to think today about the end of three things. And the first thing is the end of the Jerusalem temple. We want to think about what Jesus is saying here about the end of the Jerusalem Temple. Remember, this is how the Olivet Discourse began. It was prompted by the excitement of some disciple who said in chapter 13, verse 1, Teacher, behold, look, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings. That's what prompted this whole address. He said to them, Yes, I'm looking at them, but they're going to be destroyed. So it's the end of the Jerusalem temple. Now this was a prediction or a prophecy of Christ that from our standpoint has already taken place. The Jerusalem temple has already been destroyed. And we don't want to lose sight of this amazing fact of Christology, that Jesus of Nazareth is God. He's God in human flesh, or God incarnate. He is both Son of God and Son of Man. And generally speaking, those two titles, Son of God, Son of Man, correspond to His deity and His humanity. He possesses all of the marks of deity in His humanity, so that we can really say that God was walking among us. We can really say God dwelt on this earth as a man. He came into the world as a unique person because He came through the conception of the Holy Spirit. Not by the normal means of human conception, but the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, He overshadowed her and she conceived the Lord Jesus Christ, so that He was conceived without the seed of the man. So those who saw Him saw the Father. And we think about this amazing fact of the Incarnation, and it just stretches our minds, doesn't it? That Jesus is God. So therefore, when He's living upon the earth, He has uninterrupted communion with God. He said things like this. He said, I don't do anything except that which I see the Father doing. He said, everything that I say to you, the Father is speaking to me. He is walking in full view of the Father. And He is, as John puts it in this beautiful expression, He is in the bosom of the Father. Or we might say, He is always in the heart of the Father. He saw the Father, He heard the Father, He continued in the Father's love and grace, except when He cried out, hanging upon the cross, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, why have you forsaken Me, my God? So because of His carrying human sin on the cross, He went through that dreaded, dark, forsaking of the Father. But other than that, He has complete communion with the Father. Therefore, you see, Jesus can predict the future. He can predict the future. Now, how does the Lord Jesus, or how does Jesus of Nazareth, in approximately the year 30 AD, How does he know what's going to happen in 70 AD? Now who can predict what's going to happen to our country with any specificity or detail in the year 2048? No one except God can do that. But Jesus in the year 30 AD approximately was predicting what was going to transpire in the Roman Empire and between the Romans and the Jews almost 40 years later. It's because he's God. It's because he knows the future. Now sometimes people with insight can predict the collapse of an empire. Maybe there have been people who have predicted the collapse of communism, for example, in different parts of the world, and it has literally come true. Because they have insight, they can see the signs of the times, they can look back at previous historical events and they can see similarities and they may be able to predict, but this is totally different. Reading the signs of the times and comparing cultures is one thing. But Jesus makes a prediction, a specific prediction. Notice, that one stone will not be left upon another which will not be torn down. That's different. That's a divine prediction that only God can make. And this is a great feature of divine revelation that you see in the Bible from beginning all the way to the end. The Bible is prophecy. It contains thousands of prophecies, predictions of things that are going to happen in the future. Because it's God's book. He is in control of history. He plans and moves history according to His timetable. You may remember a few weeks ago, when we were studying the abomination of desolation, that we looked at Daniel. Daniel chapter 9. And we looked at what is perhaps Daniel's greatest prophecy, the prophecy of the 70 weeks. Where Daniel, in all the prophecies of Scripture, gives us the most chronological of all of them. And he tells us that after the 69th week, that is the 69th week of years, he says the Messiah will be cut off. Daniel received a prophecy that history was bounded by 70 weeks of years. And God told what was going to happen after the first week of years, and then after the 62 weeks of years. You total up the 62 and the 7, that's 69. After 69 weeks of years, the Messiah would be cut off. A specific chronological prediction. And then after the 70th week, which is in the future, then the end of the world will come. Well, only God can make these kinds of predictions because He is in control of history. When we say Jesus is Lord, which Christians often say, what do we mean? Well, we usually mean that Jesus is Lord of my life. But when we say Jesus is Lord, we mean He is the Lord of history. And we mean that we trust in the Word of God, which is biblical prophecy. We submit to the teachings of the author of Scripture, who is God. And God is the architect of history. He is the governor of kings and the mover of men, and we keep learning, we keep seeking, and we keep seeing, so that we can look into the future with confidence, because our God is in control of history. And that's what we're seeing here when Jesus predicted the end of the Jerusalem temple. Think with me about this prediction for a couple of minutes. I'd just like to point out two things about this prediction that Jesus gave about the end of the temple. Well, the first thing is that it was a picture of final judgment. It was a picture of final judgment. Now this explains why, when you read the Olivet Discourse in Mark chapter 13, or you could read it in Matthew chapter 24, it explains why the temple of Jerusalem is so masterfully woven together with the end of the world. Perhaps you've noticed this in your reading of Mark 13. You say, well, I can't make out here whether he's speaking about the end of the world or something that happened. in his day or in the time of the disciples, because the threads are so tight in this discourse. Notice, for example, how you see this in verses 28 through 32, the passage that we're looking at. Learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Now notice this in verse 30. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. So here's a thread, and you say, now that thread, ah, that thread is talking about the time of Jesus, because He says, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. But then you read in verse 31, immediately after it, He says, heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. So you see what I mean about the threads being so tightly woven together? in just two verses put together, he talks about the end of the Jerusalem Temple and the end of the world, or the end of the heavens and the earth as we know it. So throughout this discourse, Jesus is referring to the end of the Jerusalem Temple and the end of the world. And one of the keys to this is found in these expressions, these days are these things and those days. So follow with me now. You have to do some mental work here. You have this phrase, these things. You see it in verse 4. Please look at verse 4. The disciples said, tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when these things are going to be fulfilled? So that these things are the events of their generation. Verse 8. Nation will rise up against nation. Kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places and famines. He's talking about his own day. He's talking about some of the things that happen. in that generation. These things, notice, these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. It is not yet the end. So these things refer to these things of their generation. But then there's another phrase that is used by Jesus, and it's the phrase, those days. Notice verse 17 and 19. But woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days. Pray that it may not happen in the winter for those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of creation which God created until now and never will. Notice verse 20. Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved. But for the sake of the elect whom He chose, He shortened the days. Notice verse 24. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power, and glory, and he will send forth the angels, and will gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven." So what we're seeing here is that these days refers to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. Those days refers to the end. It's the days that the prophets spoke about when they wrote about the day of the Lord, that it would come, it would be a dark day, a day of judgment. Those days. You see how they're woven together. But because they're woven together, you see, it teaches us that the destruction of the Jerusalem temple is a picture or a type of the final judgment. And the Bible does this from beginning to end. Notice, you don't need to turn to these passages, but remember what Jesus said in Matthew 24, 37? He said, the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. Just like the days of Noah. So the flood of Noah, or the flood of Noah's day, is a picture of the final judgment. And Peter uses the flood to show that God is going to destroy the earth again, not, of course, by water, but by fire. Remember Jude verse 7, chapter 1, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality, went after strange flesh, Now Jude says they are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. So the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, the burning up of those cities because of the immorality of its inhabitants, Jude says, now that is just a small picture of what's going to happen in eternal punishment. eternal fire. You think about the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. And how were they delivered? What was the means? The ten plagues. And yet in the book of Revelation you read about plagues that are just like the ten plagues that you read about in the book of Exodus. That Moses wrought at the hand of God to free the people. His judgment upon Egypt, his judgment upon Pharaoh was a picture of the judgment of the last day. And also you read in the Bible about the judgment on Rome. which is Babylon. Whenever you read about the judgment on Babylon in the book of Revelation, or you see references to Babylon in 1 Peter, this was a code word, a code language that they used to describe the Roman Empire. Revelation 14.8. Another angel, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality. So Jesus here, you see, is predicting the end of the Jerusalem temple. from our standpoint or our vantage point in time, that prophecy has been fulfilled precisely according to the prediction that Jesus gave. This promise was a type or a picture of final judgment. And now we want to move on to the second point, the end of the world. The end of the world. Matthew, Mark chapter 13, verse 31. Heaven and earth will pass away. Now this also is a prediction or a prophecy. We must read it and process it as a sovereign prediction in the same way that we look at the prediction of the fall of the Jerusalem temple. And if that prediction came true, just according to the Word of Jesus, then what can we say about this prediction in verse 31? That the heaven and the earth, as we know it, yes, our home, and we've been talking about this week in VBS, and you'll see tonight the things that we have learned. You'll hear about some of those things. This wonderful home that God has given to us here to live, which we so much enjoy, Jesus says, this earth is going to pass away. The heavens as we see them and know them are going to pass away. We can hardly imagine. We just live our lives each day and we just figure, well, tomorrow when I wake up, everything is going to be just like it's always been. But Jesus said that a day is coming when that will no longer be true. Heaven and earth will pass away. Now, what should we do about this? This is not something we think about each day, is it? But we're so busy living our lives, and that's an important thing. Because God has put us here to be stewards of ourselves, of our relationships, our families, our jobs, our worship, and so many other things. We're here as stewards, and so every day we have to be about the business of living our life. Should we just spend each day thinking, well, this world's going to pass away, and it's all going to be gone? No. But God does want this to be a principle in our hearts, a basic understanding that colors and governs everything that we do in life. God has put us here to be good stewards, but God has also planted this truth in our hearts that everything that we do here must be for eternity because heaven and earth are going to pass away. I hope to emphasize this theme tonight in our in the short message or meditation that I'm going to bring to the families that have brought their children here this week to Vacation Bible School. Because you see, this is a truth that the average person, the average man, the average woman, and the average boy and girl needs to have in their hearts and minds. That yes, God calls us to live our lives, but He also warns us, He says, don't work for the food which perishes, but work for the food which endures to eternal life. In other words, we cannot live merely to put food on the table. We cannot live merely to clothe the body. We cannot live merely to get all our to-do list tasks done. We have to seek first His Kingdom, as we heard this morning in Sunday school. Because heaven and earth will pass away. Now again, look at verse 31 with me. Look at verse 31 and have verses 29 and 30 in the shadow. The promise of the end of the Jerusalem temple is already passed. And it's a picture of what's going to happen to the temple of the world, the temple of this universe, which is truly God's temple. And He says in verse 31, heaven and earth will pass away. Psalm 115 teaches us that our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. Our God sits upon the throne of the entire universe and He's going to bring it all to its appointed end. But the strange thing about this is that in verse 32 Jesus says He doesn't know when this is going to happen. How does verse 32 fit in to what we have just said? That Jesus predicts the future. He predicts the end of the Jerusalem temple. He predicts the end of the heavens and the earth. But notice what He says here in verse 32, "...of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. So keep on the alert and take heed, for you do not know when the appointed time will come." Or we could say, you do not know when the appointed time will come either. Now this statement has puzzled many people and some people are troubled by it. For myself, I've never really been troubled by the teachings of the Lord Jesus except for the fact that people don't give heed to what He teaches. But how could He say this? How does this fit with the fact that Jesus is God and that He knows all things? He knew that Nathanael was under the fig tree even before he was anywhere in that area. He knew what was in people's hearts. He actually knew what people were thinking. But he says in verse 32, he doesn't know the day or the hour. Well, before we think about what he meant, let's look at what he said. What did he say? Well, as far as I can see, He said four things. He said, and by the way, this is very obvious here. He said, only the Father in Heaven knows the precise day. Only the Father in Heaven knows the precise day. The second thing He said is nobody else, not the angels, not even the Son of Man who is dwelling on the earth, knows the day. The third thing He said is that only the Father in Heaven knows the precise hour. And the fourth thing that he said, that nobody else, not the angels, not even the son of man who is dwelling on the earth, knows the hour. So that's what he said. And it's quite simple, isn't it? But what did he mean? Well, he means exactly what he said. He means that as he is there upon the earth, he does not know the precise day or the hour of the end. Now, what does it mean? Well, I respond. By answering that question, what does it mean? By saying, first of all, to remember that Jesus is fully man and fully God. He is fully man and fully God, yet without sin. So why should it be strange to us that Jesus would say that he doesn't know the day or the hour of the end of the world? While there's still some mystery in it for our finite minds, it should not be strange to us that the incarnate Jesus would say that He does not know the day or the hour of the end. He's not saying that He doesn't know that the end is going to come, and He's not saying that He doesn't know how it's going to come. All He's saying is He doesn't know the day or the hour. But of course, that may not satisfy many of us. Here is a second response that I believe should satisfy our minds. And it is simply this. Remember, not only that Jesus is fully God and fully man, but also remember that Jesus came to be our example in all things. Remember that Hebrews says that He was tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. So why should we think it's strange, or why should we think it's a problem, if He does not know, while He's living on the earth, the precise day or hour of the end of the world? when He has come to be our example to teach us that since we don't know the precise day or hour of the end of the world, there's only one thing that we can do, and that is be ready. And that's what He says in verse 33. Notice the connection between verses 32 and 33. Only the Father knows the day or the hour. Therefore, there's only one thing that you can do, and that is be alert. Now if we knew the day or the hour, what would we tend to do? Oh, we know what we would do. If we knew, as some have erroneously taught even in our generation, that the end of the world was coming in 1994, or what's the date now? I don't know, 2015 or whatever. Well, if we know the date of the Lord's return, what would we tend to do in our human nature? Oh, we would put off a lot of things. We would say, oh, I have plenty of time, because the Lord is coming in 2015, or He's coming in 2060, way past my lifetime. But since we don't know the day of the hour, Jesus can then say to us with real force, real power, He can say to us, therefore, take heed, keep on the alert, because you do not know when the appointed time will come. And we can't say to Him, but Lord, You're my Lord, You're my Master, You're my example, but You know, that's easy for You to say, He says, I don't know the precise day or hour either. So therefore, as I identify with you in all things, I also identify with you in this, when I tell you that you must be alert and watch, because we do not know the precise day or the hour. And this is a very important point. as we're going to see in our next study. Christian alertness is an extremely important thing for believers to cultivate and manage in their lives, because you see, we fall asleep, we fall asleep, we are bewitched, a cloud comes over us in our lives, and we get into a fog and a haze, and we don't see clearly. So Christian alertness keeps our vision bright. And no little part of Christian alertness is this fact that we don't know the day of the hour. And that, of course, is the reason why Jesus forbids date-setting and why date-setting is such an evil. So, we've considered the end of the Jerusalem Temple. We've considered the end of the world. And by the way, notice how Jesus connects this to the parable of the fig tree. As we all know, some trees do not drop their leaves in winter. And therefore, they don't announce any change in season. But the fig tree does lose its leaves in the winter. And late in the spring, when the weather warms up, the branches grow tender with buds. And it's a beautiful thing to see that in the life of Jesus, he saw this as a fitting illustration of the end. of the world, or the end of the Jerusalem Temple. When you see its leaves, you know that the end is near, but you don't know the day or the hour. The end of the Jerusalem Temple and the end of the world are woven together in the Olivet Discourse in a beautiful way. But there is something here that has no end, and there is no end to the words, or of the words of Jesus Christ. And with this we will close. an end of the Jerusalem temple, the end of the heavens and the earth as we know them, but no end of the words of Jesus Christ. Notice what he says in Mark chapter 13 and verse 31. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. This is such a profound statement from the Lord Jesus, and one that I hope will just grip your heart and stay with you and with me every day. Heaven and earth will pass away. There is no other life worth living for than eternal life, because heaven and earth will pass away. But along with that, keep in mind that the words of Jesus Christ will not pass away. And this has to do with two things, or this is true of two things. It's true in history. It's true in history. His words did not pass away 2,000 years after His life on this earth, when He and His disciples constituted just a small, very weak band, didn't they? They were weak. They were stumbling. They were forgetful. They failed their Lord. They didn't seem to be candidates for any great work at all. They didn't seem to be good candidates for carrying the torch of Christ's teachings, when they at times could not even comprehend the meaning, when He had to say to them, why is your heart so hard? Don't you remember? Don't you recall what I said? Don't you remember what I did? Didn't you put things together? And yet he's saying here that my words will never pass away. Well, who's going to who's going to bear the torch then? But it's true. Two thousand years later, we can say his predictions about his words are true. And notice how he's talking about prophecies of the end of the temple and the end of the world. And also we could say he's talking about a prophecy of the end of his own words. See, people in that day would say, oh, this is just a sect. This is just an offshoot of Judaism. It's small and insignificant, and its founder was placed upon a cross and died in shame? Surely! His ministry is going to end with his death. That's what they all thought. And that's why they crucified him. Because they thought not only could they get rid of him, but they thought that they could also get rid of his words and his teachings. But he says, my words will not pass away. So his own word was secured for all of history. And although there are many troubles in the church at large, although there are many divisions, and there is a lot that we all have to work through and wade through to get at the truth today, because there are so many different views and opinions yet. In the midst of all of that, we can say that the truth of Christ really is shining brightly. And it's there. You can find it. And you can find preachers who preach the truth. And you can find writers who write about the truth. And you can find so much of Christ's truth shining brightly because of this prediction, my words will not pass away. How did he secure this for all of history? How did He make this come true? How did He make this prophecy work? Simple. He sent His own Spirit. His own Spirit, which is really Himself in Spirit. Christ has become a life-giving Spirit. He brought His words to their remembrance, and He showed them what was going to come in the future. These were the two great promises that He made to His disciples in the upper room, you may remember. When He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth and will bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. And that's exactly what has happened. A prophecy about the end of the words of Christ. He says, no, no end. It will, they will continue. And you and I have the words of Jesus Christ that will never pass away. Isn't that wonderful? Everything, absolutely everything about our lives is one big passing away. It's slow and it's subtle, but everything's passing away. Our youthful vigor is passing away. Youthful beauty is passing away. Our youthful strength is passing away. Sickness eventually overtakes us and overcomes us. Things get old. Things break. And Lord knows, more and more things break these days. but one thing will not pass away, and that's the Word of Jesus. And to my dying day, I will say that the words of Jesus do three things, and you've heard this before, save, sanctify, and satisfy. The words of Jesus save us. They save us from eternal wrath and destruction, and they give us eternal life. They save us, and they sanctify us. See, many who call themselves Christians stop right there. They say, oh, I'm saved. Now I can live as I please. Or, now I'm saved and I don't have to be too serious about following Christ. But the words of Christ do not just one thing, but three things. They save, they sanctify. Sanctify them, Jesus said, in your truth. Your word is truth. The words of Jesus are the words of God, and they sanctify. Sanctify means to purify, to cleanse, to purge out all the sin in our lives, in our motives, in our thoughts, in our actions. and our deeds and our words and our plans. They sanctify us. They're always purifying us. And if you and I are not seeing the filth of sin constantly being purged out of our lives, then we may not be in touch with this One whom we call the Lord of our lives. But the third thing is that the words of Jesus satisfy. They satisfy. And you know what? You can't hide this. You can't hide it from God and you really can't hide it from others. The words of Jesus satisfy. But if you and I are finding our satisfaction in worldly things, then we cannot be finding our satisfaction in the words of Jesus. And we really don't believe what He said, that everything that we touch in life is going to pass away except for one thing, His precious Word. Now, this is radical. To live life this way, to use the things of this world and enjoy them as we are able to do so, for God has given us many good gifts. And He's given us, as Paul said, all things to enjoy. But He didn't say that all these things satisfy us. He said we can enjoy them, but they don't satisfy. They're just helps along the path of life. Only one thing satisfies, and that's the precious Word of our Lord Jesus, which is the Word of God, the Word of the Spirit, because He brought it near to us. Where did He bring it? Right into our hearts. The words of Jesus do three things. Can we say that together? Save, sanctify, satisfy. They will not pass away. This is true in history. But finally, it will be true in eternity. It will be true in eternity. Notice the stark contrast of verse 31. On the one hand, he says, heaven and earth will pass away. But on the other hand, My words will not pass away. Think about it. Look at the stark contrast there. Everything that we have and see will pass away. But His word will not pass away. He's not only talking about history, He's talking about eternity. This means a number of important things. It means that every teaching of error, every doctrine of demon, Paul talks about doctrines of demons, Every doctrine of demon and every teaching of error will be banished from the created universe. That's why it doesn't pay, it does not satisfy the soul, and it does not glorify God, and it doesn't help us to follow any false teaching. We have to find the truth. Because every teaching of error and every doctrine of demon will be banished from the created universe and cast out into out of darkness with those who taught those doctrines. So it's a serious thing. I say, but it's hard work, pastor, to try to discern, is this teaching true? Theologians argue about this and that and the other thing, and I just can't keep up with all these debates. I just want to believe in the simple gospel, and just leave me alone with all this stuff. And I can sympathize with you, but we have to find the truth. The second thing it means is that the Lord Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth forever. He said, all authority has been given to me. Even when He was here upon the earth and they were going to take Him away, remember, He said, I have the power to call down twelve legions of angels. But He didn't use that power. But He has all authority in heaven and earth forever. And that's what these words mean. All authority has been given to Me. The Father has given all authority to the Son. But that authority lasts. all the way into eternity. What does that tell you? That tells you that you and I should want to be with Jesus forever. So we have to be right with him now so that we can be assured that we're going to be with him forever. You want to be with the one who has all authority forever. And the final thing is, It means that the people of God must pray more earnestly that His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's the Lord's prayer, remember? You pray, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God's will be done on earth. Why? Because it's being done in heaven. Because God is sovereign. He's in control and He's on the throne. And His will is going to be done into eternity. So that's why we should pray this prayer. Lord, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. But we're just not praying that other people will do the will of God and that everybody else will get their life in order. No, no. We're also praying. that I would do the will of God as I pray this prayer. You're praying that you would do the will of God as you pray that prayer, that it will start with you and that it will spread out to others and that if God is pleased, the spreading out will be big and broad so that many, many people will do the will of God. Why? Because heaven and earth will pass away, but the words of Jesus will not pass away. Let's turn to hymn number 324. We'll sing a wonderful hymn. It's called Christ is Coming, 324. You can remain seated as we sing the four verses with the Amen, and then we'll pray.